Having hovered at the bottom of the timesheets for the last couple of days, today it was Heikki Kovalainen's turn to step into the spotlight, posting the fastest time of the week on the final day of testing at Jerez de la Frontera.

Today, Kovalainen completed a full programme of endurance running, followed by set-up development. The Finn's 113 trouble-free laps were further proof of the promising initial reliability of the car, and represent the second full distance completed by the R27 in its first full test.

Across the garage, Giancarlo Fisichella was less fortunate, suffering from gearbox software gremlins during the morning that prevented him from running until lunchtime. He was subsequently able to continue the set-up programme that he had begun on Thursday without any further problems.

"We have had a very successful week in Jerez," said Christian Silk, "especially considering this was our first full test with the new R27. The gremlins we have encountered are completely normal with a new car, and we have worked methodically to solve each one. It has been a huge benefit to be able to run two new chassis from the off: we have found more problems, and conducted more set-up development, than ever before in a first test with a brand new car. Furthermore, the two successful race distances demonstrate that the level of reliability is already very good. For that, we need to congratulate our colleagues back at Enstone and Viry on a fantastic job over the winter.

"The team has worked hard this week," he continued, "and the initial results from our testing are encouraging: the drivers are comfortable with the car, and we have begun to explore some of the performance in the last two days. We have taken a step forward in every area with the R27: firstly in terms of performance, but also with our team operations. It has been a very good start to the new year."

With the French team due to officially launch the R27 next Wednesday in Amsterdam, testing will resume action in Valencia from 30 January to 1 February with
Fisichella and Kovalainen on duty.

With Williams having headed home, Super Aguri was the only other team running alongside Renault today, the Japanese outfit represented by Takuma Sato.

"We have had a very satisfying test this week," said Graham Taylor, the team's Sporting Director, "with the car displaying impressive reliability. Taku had a good day today, picking up from where Anthony left off, helping with the development of the control systems and furthering our understanding of the Bridgestone Potenza tyre. The team is already looking forward to our next test in Valencia in two weeks."

"It was another positive test for us and I am very pleased to start the new year testing like this," said Sato. "We tried various set-ups for a variety of conditions and learned a few things on the control side as well. The car was very reliable so we were able to complete our planned programme with very good mileage. The team is working well together and we had a very good atmosphere here, so I am happy with this test."