Alonso Flies at Jerez

Spaniard Fernando Alonso set a blistering pace at the Jerez circuit, coming close to breaking the unofficial track record held by World Champion Michael Schumacher, on the third day of this week's testing.

The Renault driver stopped the clock at 1:15.732, less than one tenth of a second behind Schumacher's time of 1:15.650, set in September last year. Alonso, driving the French squad's R25 car, was the only man who lapped in less than 76 seconds.

"Yesterday we didn't manage a lot of laps, but today we did and we achieved good times," said Alonso, who also admitted the team ran with low fuel loads. His teammate Giancarlo Fisichella also had a good session and finished as third quickest in the second R25.

"We have learned a lot from our running this week, and it was pleasing to complete a full day's work with both drivers today," said Renault's chief test engineer Christian Silk. "There is still a lot of work to do before the first race in Melbourne, and we have two busy tests ahead of us.

"However, we have confirmed the car's strong performance from Valencia here in Jerez, on a more typical circuit, and we hope to see these corroborated next week at Barcelona, an active Grand Prix venue. Certainly, our results so far lead us to believe that we are in very good shape for the first race of the year."

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya split the Renault drivers in the only McLaren on track today after working on tyre selection for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Montoya was hit by clutch problems in the afternoon and could only complete one lap.

"We think the tyre testing we have done today will ensure we have the good rear stability and high speed consistency that is suited to the demands of the Sepang circuit," said Montoya. "It was unfortunate that we had to stop today's testing programme early, however I am looking forward to getting back behind the wheel tomorrow."

Montoya's teammate Kimi Raikkonen did not take part in today's session as scheduled after the team discovered a damaged suspension part on his MP4-20 late last night. The damaged part was flown back to the McLaren Technology Centre early this morning for checks and the Finn is expected to test tomorrow.

Jarno Trulli was fourth quickest in the first of the Toyotas, outpacing his teammate Ralf Schumacher by a whole second. Both men drove the new TF105.

The Sauber team completed their three-day test with both Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve driving the C24 chassis. Massa was again the fastest of the two, outpacing Villeneuve by nearly two seconds after the Canadian's day finished early due to mechanical problems.

"Today we compared different pre-selected Michelin tyres in long-runs to simulate race conditions whereby Felipe focused on preparations for the Australian Grand Prix and Jacques on Sepang," explained Jacky Eeckelaert, Sauber's chief race engineer.

"Jacques also ran further damper tests. He was forced to stop just before the end of today's test session due to technical problems which now need to be investigated. Despite of the bad weather and track conditions on Tuesday morning we were able to complete our scheduled programme for the week.

"Compared to our last test in Barcelona we improved the car and made progress. We believe that we can expect another step forward at our final pre-season test in Imola."

The Red Bull Racing team had three drivers in action today, with Scot David Coulthard finishing as the quickest of the trio. Austrian Christian Klien was 13th, while Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi, who joined the test today, was slowest after 62 laps.

Jenson Button finished as eighth quickest. The Briton was involved in an accident at the Peluqui corner, the same place where teammate Takuma Sato had crashed yesterday. Button worked with the 007 car, while Sato drove last year's 006.

Michael Schumacher took over from Ferrari's test driver Luca Badoer as the World Champions worked with two F2004M cars for the first time. The second car driven by Rubens Barrichello. Ferrari's technical programme focussed on set-up, engine and Bridgestone tyre testing.

Renault and Sauber completed their work today, while the rest of the teams continue testing tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Alonso Renault (M) 1:15.732 97 2. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:16.442 50 3. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:16.647 70 4. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:16.748 96 5. Massa Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:17.268 103 6. Coulthard Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:17.525 87 7. R.Schumacher Toyota (M) 1:17.776 74 8. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:17.985 72 9. Webber Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.038 93 10. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:18.111 110 11. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:18.134 129 12. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:18.257 77 13. Klien Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:18.509 58 14. Heidfeld Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.719 56 15. Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:19.022 120 16. Liuzzi Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:20.110 62 All Timing Unofficial

Visit Atlas F1's Testing Center for further information