De la Rosa Flies, Coulthard Debuts at Jerez

Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa topped the timesheets on the second day of this week's testing at the Jerez circuit.

The McLaren test driver, despite suffering a mechanical problem at the end of the day, posted an impressive time of 1:15.837 to finish nearly two seconds ahead of the closest of his rivals.

De la Rosa's lap was only two tenths of a second slower than the unofficial track record, held by World Champion Michael Schumacher and set earlier this year.

Antonio Pizzonia was second quickest in the first of the Williams, the BMW-powered team joining the Jerez test today with both the Brazilian and Australian teammate Mark Webber behind the wheel of the FW26B. German Nick Heidfeld will also be testing for Williams this week.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli finished third after a massive 126 laps at the wheel of the TF104B machine, with German teammate Ralf Schumacher driving the second car from the Japanese squad.

Renault began their programme with both Giancarlo Fisichella and Franck Montagny carrying out testing duties. The Frenchman had a very busy day and covered a total of 169 laps on his way to the sixth fastest time of the day.

David Coulthard made his debut with the Red Bull Racing team and had a promising session, finishing quickest of the three drivers in action for the Austrian-owned squad.

The Scot, still under contract to McLaren and their sponsors until the end of the year, went out in last year's Cosworth-powered Jaguar R5 car in unbranded overalls and helmet as sunshine replaced the morning mist.

Coulthard finished ahead of Austrian Christian Klien and Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi, slowest today.

BAR continued putting miles in their 2005 concept car, with Briton Jenson Button at the wheel while compatriot Anthony Davidson drove the 2004-spec 006 machine. World Champions Ferrari had another productive session, with Luca Badoer covering 114 laps while Marc Gene completed 108.

Testing continues tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:15.837 110 2. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 1:17.491 71 3. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:17.614 126 4. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:17.709 97 5. R.Schumacher Toyota (M) 1:17.727 83 6. Montagny Renault (M) 1:18.061 169 7. Coulthard Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:18.079 61 8. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:18.101 90 9. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:18.155 45 10. Webber Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.178 75 11. Klien Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:18.631 53 12. Gene Ferrari (B) 1:18.789 108 13. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:18.906 114 14. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:19.237 101 15. Liuzzi Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:19.419 30 All Timing Unofficial

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