04/06/2005
NEWS STORY
While five teams were in action at Silverstone, Ferrari, Sauber and BAR tested at Monza.
BAR tested at the Autodromo Nazionale on Wednesday, aware that the Silverstone test would fall victim to the British weather. For the final day of testing prior to the back-to-back north American Grands Prix, the Brackley outfit opted to switch its test efforts back to Italy.
Fastest man today, as he has been on all three days, was Ferrari's Marc Gene. The Spaniard continued with a programme centred on Bridgestone tyre development and aerodynamics for the forthcoming races.
BAR had Anthony Davidson and Enrique Bernoldi on duty. The Brazilian's morning got off to a slow start due to a gearbox and engine change. A spin into the gravel also cost him running time but he recovered ground in the afternoon session, completing 94 laps for the day.
Anthony ran through further aerodynamic evaluations, a Michelin tyre test and ran the latest spec engine from Honda to its target mileage, completing a total of 145 laps.
"It is good to be back in the car," said the Englishman. "We completed a lot of laps today and have covered almost 3000kms in two days at the Monza test. We completed the planned Michelin tyre test and a number of aero evaluations - both of which have provided very positive results.
"In terms of performance we definitely are a step up from where we were at the last race and the car itself generally feels good - more like it should feel," he added.
"It was very exciting for me to be back in Monza at a fast track that I have not driven on since I competed in F1," admitted Enrique. "My programme over the two days was mainly to test the Indianapolis tyre options. On the first day we completed almost all of the planned programme, with many long runs. Today we suffered a gearbox problem which stopped my running in the morning, but in the afternoon we got back on track and I completed a total of 94 laps. The car feels good and I think that this was a very positive test for the team."
Splitting the two BARs was Felipe Massa in the Sauber.
"Today we have further worked with Felipe on our race preparation for Indianapolis and could verify the data we gathered the last two days," said Jacky Eeckelaert. "Overall, I can say that the test this week went well. In those three days we could run more than 1.600 kilometres and the C24 proved once again its high reliability.
"We were able to complete our scheduled programme for the Canadian and United States Grand Prix, whereby we concentrated on the evaluation of new aerodynamic parts for the required medium downforce at these two races, and worked with Michelin on the tyre selection. Considering the outcome of this test I believe that we are well prepared for the forthcoming North American rounds."