28/09/2005
NEWS STORY
McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa posted the best time of the day at Jerez today, as the Woking team, McLaren and Toyota joined WilliamsF1, who had exclusive use of the Spanish track on Tuesday.
Conditions were ideal, with bright sunshine and temperatures reaching 32 degrees C, as de la Rosa, joined by Alex Wurz, began the Constructors' Championship leader's preparations for the final two races of the 2005 season.
Both drivers were conducting front suspension work this morning and this afternoon, Alex's programme also incorporated front damper work, while Pedro's afternoon was focussed on Michelin tyre testing for the forthcoming Chinese Grand Prix at which he will drive the third car.
On the last lap of the day the Spaniard's car suffered an engine failure after it had run for 1315km in
total. The reason for this problem will be investigated. Before the failure, the engine had been tested extensively across the full power range.
Having confirmed earlier today that Antonio Pizzonia will replace Nick Heidfeld in the two remaining races of the season, as the German recovers from a cycling accident, the Brazilian and his Australian teammate, Mark Webber, worked on tyre evaluations for the Chinese Grand Prix, in addition to trying new brake ducts and front suspension settings.
Under the 30-day test agreement between all the teams, bar Ferrari, today was the last day of testing for the 2005 season for the Grove team.
Red Bull had Tonio Liuzzi on duty, the Italian being the busiest man today, covering 109 laps.
Toyota had Ralf Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta present, the Brazilian working with the V8 engine for next year, while his German teammate ran the TF105B. Both drivers suffered a number of problems during the course of the day.
BAR and Renault will join the test tomorrow (Thursday).