Montagny Finishes Jerez Test on Top

The Frenchman, who focused on doing long runs with the tyre compouds for China, brought his team's preparations for the Japanese and Chinese Grands Prix to an end as both him and Brazilian Lucas di Grassi continued working at the wheel of the R25.

Di Grassi, who drove a Formula One car for the first time on Thursday, made good progress today, lapping over two seconds quicker than yesterday after 94 laps. The Brazilian was still slowest and over three seconds off Montagny's pace.

Briton Anthony Davidson was second quickest in the first BAR-Honda 007, while compatriot James Rossiter, joining the test today, drove the 2006 development car. The team had a productive session, with Davidson covering a massive 150 laps.

The Toyota team continued working with their TF105B with Jarno Trulli at the wheel. The Italian, who suffered an engine failure early in the morning, is expected to make a decision today about whether he will drive the car in Japan and China or will stick to the current TF105.

Ricardo Zonta drove both the current Toyota and the car fitted with the V8 engine, covering 30 laps with the latter to post a time of 1:20.209, over three seconds slower than what he managed with the TF105.

Scot David Coulthard took over from teammate Christian Klien as Red Bull completed their preparation work for Japan.

Today's times:

Pos   Driver        Team                Tyres  Time     Laps
  1.  Montagny      Renault              (M)  1:16.227  151
  2.  Davidson      BAR-Honda            (M)  1:16.491  150
  3.  Trulli        Toyota               (M)  1:17.047   91
  4.  Zonta         Toyota               (M)  1:17.079  132
  5.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Cosworth    (M)  1:17.720   65
  6.  Rossiter      BAR-Honda            (M)  1:18.103   85
  7.  di Grassi     Renault              (M)  1:19.470   94
  
All Timing Unofficial