07/04/2005
NEWS STORY
Following two days of testing at Barcelona, Marc Gene is confident that Ferrari will be competitive at Imola and beyond.
The Spaniard, who completed more than 541 miles (870 km) of tyre testing, believes that Bridgestone is improving and that the cooler European temperatures will help.
Talking to Gazzetta dello Sport, he said: "If I compare our lap times with Renault, who are the team to beat at present, I would say that we are on the right track. Obviously we suffered in the heat of Malaysia and Bahrain, but now that we're facing cooler races, the situation should improve."
Surprisingly, Gene ran solo for the first two days of the Spanish test, running the F2004, but today (Thursday), Luca Badoer and Rubens Barrichello are in action, the Brazilian running the F2005. Gene insists that the fact that his tyre testing was with the old car is irrelevant.
"The fact that I'm using the old car doesn't matter that much because the new car isn't entirely different, it is simply faster," he said, "by around five to seven tenths per lap. Therefore the behaviour of the tyres doesn't change. If they are good on the 2004 M, they will be good on the F2005."
Millions of loyal Ferrari fans around the world, not to mention a certain German, will certainly hope so.
To check out our pictures from Barcelona, click here