Davidson Quickest at Monza
Briton Anthony Davidson set the pace on the first day of this week's testing at the Monza circuit, where four teams were in action today
Having cancelled their planned test at Silverstone due to the poor weather, the BAR-Honda team worked at the Italian circuit, working with test drivers Davidson and Enrique Bernoldi.
Davidson finished nearly a second ahead of Ferrari's test driver Marc Gene, second fastest after 126 laps with the F2005.
Jarno Trulli was third quickest for Toyota, who began their preparations for the Canadian Grand Prix. Trulli, who is scheduled to travel to Silverstone tomorrow to test if the weather allows it, covered 89 laps.
Canadian Jacques Villeneuve finished at the bottom of the times with the only Sauber on track, the Swiss team focussing on evaluating two different aerodynamic packages.
Villeneuve will be replaced by teammate Felipe Massa tomorrow.
"The focus of the test this week will be the preparation for the next two races in North America," said Sauber's chief race engineer Jacky Eeckelaert. "In Montreal and Indianapolis it will be the first time this season that we run with aerodynamic packages for medium downforce levels.
"Therefore, we will evaluate several new parts, mainly front and rear wings. Some of them we tested to a certain extent already in Le Castellet three weeks ago and need to verify them here in Monza, but we will also have completely new parts on the car.
"In the morning Jacques did a comparison of the new package and later in the afternoon he worked with Michelin on the tyre selection for Montreal."
Today's times:
Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:21.490 112 2. Gene Ferrari (B) 1:22.375 126 3. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:22.542 89 4. Bernoldi BAR-Honda (M) 1:22.614 124 5. Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:22.796 95 All Timing Unofficial
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