Jerez, day 2: Schuey to the fore
Michael Schumacher continued to set the pace in testing at Jerez today (Wednesday), conducting further tyre evaluation work ahead of the upcoming United States Grand Prix
The Ferrari star continued his testing work for Bridgestone, as the Japanese marque works flat out to ensure its competitiveness around Indianapolis. After testing a variety of hard compound tyres yesterday, Schumacher moved onto soft tyres today, partly explaining why he was able to lap over three quarters of a second faster. The German appeared very happy with the rubber he tested.
"Again, a very productive day for us," said Schumacher. "We kept working on our programme for Indianapolis. We're just working purely for the next grand prix at the moment."
Nick Heidfeld set the second fastest time, albeit 0.765s off Schumacher's pace. The Sauber driver continued testing work on some new aerodynamic developments, and also conducted some tyre testing. His day was ended early when he was halted by a technical problem with half an hour of running left.
Jenson Button was third quickest for BAR, working on tyre development and engine evaluation. The Honda powerplant he was testing is the lighted yet produced by the Japanese manufacturer and is due to be raced at Indy.
Toyota test driver Ricardo Zonta was fourth fastest, continuing his long-term set-up and tyre development work.
BAR's Takuma Sato was the last of the runners, although he completed a massive amount of work, completing 114 laps. As well as working on set-up and tyres, the Japanese driver conducted a data-logging exercise on the team's gearbox, in an attempt to determine exactly what caused Button's retirement from the Italian Grand Prix.
Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 1m18.470s 107
Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas B 1m19.235s 100
Jenson Button BAR-Honda B 1m20.112s 63
Ricardo Zonta Toyota M 1m20.309s 93
Takuma Sato BAR-Honda B 1m20.425s 114
B = Bridgestone
M = Michelin
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