Valencia 2: JPM pips Schuey
The Valencia lap record was obliterated more than once today (Wednesday), with first Michael Schumacher and then Juan Pablo Montoya topping the leaderboard. Times far below the 70-second mark were a sure sign that testing has gone onto a new level of seriousness.
Schumacher broke the record just before lunch whilst Montoya came back with his own mean response shortly after the break. Schumacher's lap came in the middle of a series of several-lap runs that typified his day's tyre work. However Montoya's lap was a true one-off 'flyer' in the new FW26. The Colombian was trying Michelin compounds today, and clearly found one that he liked.
Ralf Schumacher was third in another FW26, whilst Brazil's Antonio Pizzonia was next up in last year's car. The former Williams test driver has been recalled by the team to help with the upcoming tests.
Where Toyota is concerned, Ricardo Zonta went quicker in the interim car than Olivier Panis did in the recently-launched 2004 machine. Zonta, too, found a construction that pleased him, but the lack of pace from the new car must be worrying the team. Ditto for Jaguar, as Mark Webber made little impression in the 2004 car.
On a sunny and warm day, with temperatures in the mid-20's, both BAR-Hondas had gearbox problems before Takuma Sato suffered a spectacular engine failure. Both Jarno Trulli (in the Renault R24) and Ralf Schumacher also encountered mechanical let-downs.
Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW) 1m09.316s 58
Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1m09.433s 83
Ralf Schumacher (Williams-BMW) 1m09.681s 83
Antonio Pizzonia (Williams-BMW) 1m10.153s 86
Ricardo Zonta (Toyota) 1m10.349s 89
Jenson Button (BAR-Honda) 1m10.362s 82
Olivier Panis (Toyota) 1m10.456s 88
Jarno Trulli (Renault) 1m10.479s 84
Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas) 1m10.638s 51
Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda) 1m11.092s 100
Franck Montagny (Renault) 1m11.282s 111
Mark Webber (Jaguar) 1m11.389s 51
Bjorn Wirdheim (Jaguar) 1m11.802s 102
Gianmaria Bruni (Minardi) 1m12.468s 21
Zsolt Baumgartner (Minardi) 1m22.232s 5
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