Gene Outpaces Ralf at Barcelona - Day One

The Williams-BMW team kicked off today the second test of 2004, working with their new FW26 car at the Barcelona circuit in Spain.

Spaniard Marc Gene took to the wheel of the new BMW-powered car for the first time and was immediately up to speed, posting a quickest time of 1:15.928 to top the times in today's session. Gene, who completed 76 laps with the new FW26, outpaced his teammate Ralf Schumacher.

The German driver, who had already worked with the new car the previous week in Jerez, finished over two tenths of a second behind the team's test driver after covering 49 laps around the Catalan circuit, which has been slightly revised ahead of this year's Spanish Grand Prix.

"We had a very cold start to the day, with the ambient temperature reaching as low as -1°C this morning," said test team manager Tim Newton. "With a track temperature of only 1°C, running was minimal in the morning. Greater progress was achieved in the afternoon, however, with both Ralf and Marc in the FW26, Ralf running chassis two for the first time.

"Marc completed some tyre testing for Michelin while Ralf spent the day shaking down the new car."

Williams were the only team in action today, but they will be joined tomorrow by Ferrari, Renault, BAR, Sauber, Jordan, Toyota and Jaguar.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:15.928 76 2. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:16.176 49 All Timing Unofficial

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