Montoya Flies in McLaren Debut

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya had an impressive debut with the McLaren team after posting the quickest time on the second day of testing at the Barcelona circuit.

Montoya, driving for his new team for the first time after leaving Williams at the end of the 2004 season, took to the Spanish circuit at the wheel of the MP4-19B to post a quickest time of 1:14.202, around half a second off the track record.

"Its been an exciting day today and the first time I actually went out of the garage in a McLaren Formula One car was special," said Montoya. "I know a lot of the guys in the team already and am really looking forward to working with everybody.

"At the moment I'm still struggling with remembering everybody's names but that is only natural. There is a lot of work to do for all of us before Christmas and I can't wait."

The McLaren driver, who worked alongside Austrian tester Alexander Wurz, was over four tenths of a second quicker than his former teammate Ralf Schumacher, who also made his debut with his new team Toyota. The German too had a promising start and lapped in less than 75 seconds, outpacing his Italian teammate Jarno Trulli by over a second.

"The package is better than I expected," said Ralf. "The engine is very, very good and the car is also not bad."

Brazilian Felipe Massa was third fastest in the Michelin-shod Sauber, in what was the Swiss squad's first run with the French rubber.

"Today we ran our first test day with Michelin tyres and naturally concentrated on adapting the car's balance to the new tyres," said Sauber's chief race engineer Jacky Eeckelaert. "We defined a new suspension set-up and adjusted the C23 accordingly.

"Already at Hinwil we ran simulations on the basis of Michelin tyre data and developed a good foundation for our work today. Overall we were able to deliver good test results and are happy with today's outcome."

Austrian Christian Klien drove for the Red Bull Racing team as the Austrian-owned squad took to the track for the first time since taking over the Jaguar outfit. Klien was fourth fastest, nearly eight tenths of a second quicker than F3000 champion Vitantonio Liuzzi, who debuted with Red Bull today as he fights for a racing seat at the Milton Keynes-based squad.

Mark Webber had his first proper test with Williams after completing just a handful of laps on Tuesday, the Australian posting the fifth fastest time of the day. Webber and Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia were in charge of testing duties for the BMW-powered squad.

Ferrari's test drivers Marc Gene and Luca Badoer, the only Bridgestone runners in action today, finished sixth and seventh fastest respectively as the World Champions continued with the off-season work which was kicked off this week.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella also made his debut with his new team as he drove the Renault R24 for the first time at the Spanish circuit. The former Sauber driver, working alongside French tester Franck Montagny, managed 29 laps on his way to the 10th quickest time of the day.

"Overall, I am pleased with how things went today," said Fisichella. "Although I didn't get out on the circuit until midday, we did over thirty laps and I was able to begin learning about the car, the engine and the tyres.

"Everything was new for me, but I was impressed with what I found: the tyre performance is good, and the engine was strong at low revs. The car is not yet balanced how I want it for my driving style, but we are going in the right direction and it is getting more comfortable. It was a good start to the week."

BAR-Honda drivers Jenson Button and Enrique Bernoldi were in action for the Honda-powered squad, the Brazilian testing the hybrid 2004 car with 2005 components, with black livery. Button, at the wheel of last season's car, was 13th while Bernoldi finished slowest after 33 laps.

Testing at Barcelona continues tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:14.202 59 2. R.Schumacher Toyota (M) 1:14.618 67 3. Massa Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:14.943 72 4. Klien Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:15.148 100 5. Webber Williams-BMW (M) 1:15.369 51 6. Gene Ferrari (B) 1:15.613 70 7. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:15.649 102 8. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:15.745 50 9. Liuzzi Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:15.933 60 10. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:16.108 29 11. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 1:16.242 16 12. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:16.361 83 13. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:16.846 61 14. Montagny Renault (M) 1:17.228 69 15. Bernoldi BAR-Honda (M) 1:19.977 33 All Timing Unofficial

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