Heidfeld Tops the Times at Valencia - Day Two

German Nick Heidfeld continued with his impressive pre-season form after topping the timesheets on the second day of testing at the Valencia circuit in Spain.

The Sauber driver, who had already shone at the Barcelona test at the wheel of the Ferrari-powered C21 chassis, was more than one tenth of a second quicker than Japanese Jordan driver Takuma Sato, who like Heidfeld and teammate Felipe Massa joined the Valencia test today. Sato drove last year's EJ11.

"We had two separate programmes for the drivers today," said Sauber's technical director Willy Rampf, "with Nick doing more development work in setting up the car in a number of different configurations, and Felipe concentrating on a long distance run to get the feel for his first Grand Prix. It's been a good day, and the C21 has been quick and reliable."

Brazilian Massa was also in impressive form with the Swiss car, finishing the session ahead of all the Williams drivers. Juan Pablo Montoya, driving the new FW24, was the fastest of the BMW-powered team's trio, with Ralf Schumacher and test driver Marc Gene behind him. Schumacher, who also drove the new chassis, had his progress hampered by a spin that saw him ending up in the gravel trap.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso continued working for the Renault team, the young driver driving the old B201 while Briton Jenson Button took over from teammate Jarno Trulli at the wheel of the new R202.

"It was an encouraging day for the team," said Mike Gascoyne, Renault's technical director. "Jenson completed over 50 laps in the new car, concentrating on reliability runs, while Fernando once again conducted tyre development for Michelin."

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, who continued with the development of the Jordan EJ12 was ninth quickest.

Minardi also joined the test today, with both Australian Mark Webber and teammate Alex Yoong driving the new Asiatech-powered PS02. Neither driver completed a big amount of laps and both were way off the pace.

"We were able to lap in the new car after lunch, and already we've been able to make some improvements," said Webber. "I'm satisfied with this first session, and am now looking forward to tomorrow. With more running, we'll have a better opportunity to assess the potential of the new car."

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:13.717 99 2. Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:13.836 73 3. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:13.933 91 4. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:14.025 55 5. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:14.037 57 6. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:15.038 66 7. Alonso Renault (M) 1:15.340 49 8. Button Renault (M) 1:15.771 39 9. Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 1:15.968 53 10. Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:18.048 14 11. Yoong Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:21.002 21 All Timing Unofficial

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