Montoya Tops the Times at Jerez - Day Two

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya dominated the second day of this week's testing at the Jerez circuit in Cadiz, Spain.

The McLaren driver, again at the wheel of the MP4-20 with the radical "horn" wing, was nearly half a second faster than Williams rival Nick Heidfeld. The German had a productive session with the new Williams FW27, covering a total of 125 laps to outpace his teammate Mark Webber by over half a second.

Brazilian Felipe Massa had another good day at Jerez and posted the third quickest time as the Sauber team continued working on the development of the new Petronas-powered C24. Massa's teammate Jacques Villeneuve, slowest yesterday, was only 12th fastest today.

"Today we worked with Felipe on further improvements of the car's set-up, and also ran Michelin tyre and brake tests," explained Sauber's race engineer Jacky Eeckelaert. "With Jacques we focused on brake evaluations and compared different dampers.

"For tomorrow we have scheduled for both drivers to work with Michelin on a tyre programme for Melbourne. Overall I'm quite happy with the performances today and the reliability of the C24."

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello, testing a new construction of Bridgestone tyres, managed the fourth quickest time in the F2004M while test driver Luca Badoer wound up 13th in the hybrid F2004 machine.

The Renault team did not have their strongest of days and could not complete 100 laps between their two drivers Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella. The Spanish driver, hit by mechanical problems during the day, was the quickest of the two after only 37 laps.

"It was frustrating to complete fewer laps than we had planned today, but we nevertheless began our tyre testing for Melbourne and obtained some clear directions on our choices," said Renault chief test engineer Christian Silk.

"Both drivers remained positive about the car's performance at this circuit, but we have not yet completed any dedicated set-up work for this circuit. Along with further tyre development, that will be our priority tomorrow."

Austrian Christian Klien continued putting miles in the new Red Bull RB1 car debuted this week. Klien worked alongside Scot David Coulthard, eighth fastest on the day.

Japanese driver Takuma Sato had another disastrous day and, after being hit by mechanical problems early in the day, he crashed again after losing control of his car at the Peluqui corner.

The BAR-Honda driver, who had already crashed yesterday after losing his rear wing at the end of the straight, called it a day earlier than planned and only completed 15 laps to finish slowest. His teammate Anthony Davidson had a better day and covered a massive 155 laps with the second 007 car.

The Toyota team, who had a good session yesterday, were close to the bottom of the times. Jarno Trulli and Ricardo Zonta were 14th and 15th fastest respectively, both men working with the TF105.

Testing continues tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:16.803 102 2. Heidfeld Williams-BMW (M) 1:17.379 125 3. Massa Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:17.395 99 4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:17.447 70 5. Alonso Renault (M) 1:17.530 37 6. Klien Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:17.582 110 7. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:17.630 59 8. Coulthard Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:17.915 80 9. Webber Williams-BMW (M) 1:17.933 33 10. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:17.953 98 11. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:18.272 155 12. Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:18.610 95 13. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:18.674 74 14. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:19.044 91 15. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:19.770 74 16. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:20.060 15 All Timing Unofficial

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