13/12/2005
NEWS STORY
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Following a day's rest, testing resumed at Jerez de la Frontera today, with four teams on duty, as the last big test of 2005 got underway.
Massa, at the wheel of an F2005 fitted with a restricted version of the V10 engine, worked on a Bridgestone tyre development programme. The Brazilian, the only V10-powered driver on duty today, completed 91 laps, posting a best time almost a second quicker than the next best driver.
Second quickest was Toyota tester, Ricardo Zonta, who was joined by Franck Perera, a member of the Japanese outfit's Young Driver Programme. The Frenchman was having his second full test with Toyota after conducting six of the regular pre-race 50km shakedown tests for the team between June and October 2005.
With Jerez experiencing the coldest weather so far in winter testing, it was just 2 degrees Celsius at the 9 am start time and consequently it was a while before temperatures rose enough for the teams to conduct meaningful work. After an initial wait, therefore, Zonta got down to some serious set-up experimentation.
"At first it was too cold to achieve a lot," said test team manager, Gerd Pfeiffer, "but when conditions improved we worked through a full schedule with Ricardo and had a good day with no concerns.
"With Franck, it was more about the chance for him to gain some more experience and for us to evaluate him a little more and see what kind of feedback he can give to the engineers. He had a couple of small incidents, the first at Turn 10 in the morning, when we changed the nose and the left rear suspension. But Franck should not be too hard on himself about losing time. By the end of the day he was driving well and doing very reasonable times."
"It was a pretty good day," said Perera, "except that I made a small mistake in Turn 10 this morning. I took a little bit too much kerb, lost the back end and hit the tyre barrier very lightly. That cost us a couple of hours while the car was brought back and repaired. Then, at the very end, I lost control in Turn 5 and had a quick spin but there was no damage. We had made quite a big modification to the car so maybe that was the reason.
"Apart from that it was a good day and the car was getting better all the time. There was a lot for me to learn and take in - the engine, the tyres and everything was pretty different from what I experienced a year ago!"
Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett were behind the wheel of two MP4-20Bs, both fitted with Mercedes-Benz V8 engines.
Due to the cold ambient and track temperatures both drivers remained in their garages during the early part of the morning session, and started their test programme shortly after 10:30, as the temperatures slowly rose to double figures. However, just after 09:00 both Pedro and Gary completed their installation laps, and because of the cold conditions Gary spun, his car remained on the tarmac and was undamaged.
The planned programme of engine and Michelin tyre evaluation and development continued, with Gary setting the third fastest time of the day with a 1m20.224. Pedro was fourth on the timesheets having driven a 1m20.317. Both drivers covered 152 laps and 660km in total today.
Juan Pablo Montoya will return to the cockpit tomorrow alongside de la Rosa, with both drivers continuing to test on Thursday.
BMW's sole representative was Nick Heidfeld, who drove the Sauber C24B, fitted with the P86 V8 BMW powerplant, as the team concentrated on on Michelin tyre work and further engine testing.
Tomorrow (Wednesday), Honda, Renault and WilliamsF1 join the test, which is scheduled to end on Sunday - when Renault and Honda take part in a 'wet' test.
To check out our Jerez test picture gallery, click here