Wurz finishes Jerez test on top

Wurz was the only man capable of lapping the Spanish track in less than 80 seconds, posting a best time of 1:19.962 to edge BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica by less than a tenth.

The Williams driver's time was the second quickest of the week, behind Lewis Hamilton's 1:19.670, set on the second day of testing yesterday.

McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa, replacing Hamilton at the wheel of the MP4-22, was third fastest on another productive day for most teams, with no red flags during the session. The day was sunny again, with air temperatures of well over 30 degrees.

De la Rosa tested some new aerodynamic components and was the busiest man on track, with over 100 laps covered.

The Spaniard finished ahead of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who was in action for the second day running to wrap-up Honda's preparations for the upcoming races. The Japanese squad tried some aerodynamic modifications that seemed to leave Barrichello happier than yesterday, when he was slowest.

Sebastien Buemi returned to the wheel of the Red Bull following his first day of work with the team on Tuesday. The Swiss driver showed good progress after 68 laps, finishing less than four tenths off the top of the times.

Jarno Trulli was sixth fastest for Toyota, the Italian losing track time in the morning due to an oil leak.

"The main thing to say about today was that it was so hot," said Trulli. "When the asphalt is as hot as this it makes it difficult to get consistent data. Still, it was quite a positive day, we tried out various things in preparation for the next race in Hungary, which is likely to be just as hot and could be even hotter.

"We missed some track time in the morning due to an oil leak. There was no breakage but the problem required an engine change. That made for a busy afternoon but we carried out some useful work on starts, aero and set-up for the Hungaroring. In the end we made it through our planned 70 laps."

Renault's Heikki Kovalainen had a troubled day due to gearbox problems and an unscheduled engine change in the afternoon.

"It is always frustrating when you have a stop-start day of testing, but it was important to run this extra day and make progress with our development programme," the Finn said.

"In between the stoppages, we did some useful tests, and the data we have collected should allow us to carry on making progress as we try to improve the car even more ahead of the next races."

The test was the final one before the summer break.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                    Time     Laps
 1.  Wurz          Williams-Toyota    (B)  1.19.962   86
 2.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber         (B)  1.20.004   92
 3.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1.20.220  111
 4.  Barrichello   Honda              (B)  1.20.250   86
 5.  Buemi         Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1.20.318   68
 6.  Trulli        Toyota             (B)  1.20.377   70
 7.  Kovalainen    Renault            (B)  1.20.828   64
 8.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1.21.186  108

All Timing Unofficial