McLaren and Williams Wrap Up Valencia Test

The McLaren and Williams teams wrapped up today a four-day test at the Valencia circuit, where Finn Kimi Raikkonen finished on top of the times for the second day in a row.

Raikkonen, at the wheel of the MP4-17D chassis, lapped nearly a second slower than he did on Wednesday, when he was close to breaking the track record. The McLaren driver's lap of 1:11.621 was enough to keep him ahead of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, who today concentrated on the development of the new BMW P83 engine at the wheel of the first of the Williams FW24.

"As well as supporting the chassis and tyre development work on the car, we have also been able to complete an extensive engine development programme during the Valencia test," said BMW boss Mario Theissen. "We had no unexpected incidents and we are pleased with the progress achieved.

"Our tasks were divided between testing new components for the P83 BMW engine as well as working on the engine's mapping. Step by step, we are finalising the engine's configuration for Melbourne."

Williams test driver Marc Gene and McLaren's Alexander Wurz were also on track today, both men finishing less than three tenths of a second behind Raikkonen and Montoya.

Testing at the Valencia circuit will continue next Tuesday, when World Champions Ferrari are scheduled to be joined by McLaren, Jaguar, Jordan, BAR, Minardi, Toyota and Sauber.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:11.621 81 2. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:11.634 69 3. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:11.901 84 4. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:11.910 88 All Timing Unofficial

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