Ralf Flies in Testing Return at Silverstone - Day One

German Ralf Schumacher showed he is recovered from his accident at the United States Grand Prix by posting the quickest time on the first day of this week's testing at the Silverstone circuit.

The Williams driver, who had been out of action since his accident at Indianapolis in June, was back to work in impressive fashion as he topped the timesheets with a quickest time of 1:18.014, over a second quicker than the nearest of his rivals.

Ralf has missed the last six races after suffering two spinal fractures.

"I couldn't be happier with today's test," said Ralf at the end of the day. "The most important thing was that I had no back pain at all, which helped me feel confident and push hard.

"Finishing the quickest today makes me feel very positive and I am also delighted with how the car has progressed since the middle of the season. I got up to speed very quickly and I was pleased to find that I could get the most out of the car's developments."

McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz was second fastest in a session which was hampered by rain during the morning, although the track dried out eventually. McLaren worked also with Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa, who posted the sixth quickest time in the second MP4-19B car.

The BAR-Honda team also had two drivers on track, with Briton Anthony Davidson outpacing compatriot Jenson Button at the squad from Brackley began their preparations for the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai circuit.

Ricardo Zonta and Olivier Panis were in action for the Toyota team, the Brazilian finishing as fourth fastest while the Frenchman managed the eighth quickest time of the day behind Spaniard Fernando Alonso. The Renault driver was back to work after his retirement from the Italian Grand Prix, and he tested alongside the team's test driver Franck Montagny.

German Timo Glock was the only Jordan driver at Silverstone today, but the tester set his quickest lap in the wet and finished over 12 seconds off the pace.

Testing resumes tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.014 32 2. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:19.083 36 3. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:19.367 65 4. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:19.521 47 5. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:19.559 45 6. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:19.560 54 7. Alonso Renault (M) 1:19.739 55 8. Panis Toyota (M) 1:20.137 59 9. Glock Jordan-Ford (B) 1:22.241 51 10. Montagny Renault (M) 1:30.473 25 11. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:32.047 33 All Timing Unofficial

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