Rain, Snow Hinder Imola Test - Final Day
This weeks's test at the Imola circuit in Italy came to an end earlier than expected after the weather again hampered the progress of the teams working there.
This weeks's test at the Imola circuit in Italy came to an end earlier than expected after the weather again hampered the progress of the teams working there.
Today's session was first hit by rain and then snow, the testing coming to an end before the scheduled time.
World Champions Ferrari, who were scheduled to continue with the development of the F2004 today, decided to call off their test after seeing the poor weather conditions this morning.
Williams also left Imola early, but only after Juan Pablo Montoya had managed to complete 28 laps.
The Colombian, whose FW26 broke down before the lunch break, posted the second fastest time of the day, finishing behind Toyota's test driver Ryan Briscoe, who took over from Frenchman Olivier Panis and drove last year's TF103 chassis.
The Australian driver completed 46 laps and outpaced his teammate Cristiano da Matta, who covered only 32 laps with the TF104, his car suffering a mechanical problem right before the Tosa corner.
"The weather in Imola this week has pretty much dictated what we have been able to do over these final three days prior to the first race of the year in Australia," said da Matta. "The only day on which we were able to complete much running was Wednesday, so we had some items left over on our testing programme.
"We definitely needed more time in the new car this week, so we must now wait until Melbourne next week to see where we line up in comparison to the other teams."
Today's times:
Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Briscoe Toyota (M) 1:37.588 46 2. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:39.440 28 3. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:44.044 32 All Timing Unofficial
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