Ralf on Top at Valencia - Day Two

Williams continued today to dominate testing at Valencia, Spain, but Renault have caught up to the Grove-based outfit, with Italian Jarno Trulli setting the third fastest time, a little over one tenth behind Ralf Schumacher, who set the fastest laptime of the day.

Second day of testing in preparation for the 2004 season saw the five Michelin shod teams - Williams, McLaren, Renault, Jaguar and Toyota - continue their work on the Spanish track. After setting a new lap record yesterday, Juan Pablo Montoya settled for second fastest behind teammate Schumacher, the Colombian's fastest lap less than three hundredths of a second behind Ralf. The pair were also accompanied by the team's test driver, Spaniard Marc Gene, who ended the day eighth fastest.

"We had another successful day's running today," commented Tim Newton, Williams's Test Team Manager, "with all three drivers performing similar duties to yesterday, including useful tyre and chassis testing as well as further evaluation work on the new gearbox. We also did some practice starts in preparation for the new regulations for 2004."

Renault's Trulli was also on the pace, the Italian testing mechanical suspension components to be used on the R24 as well as evaluating various tyre compounds. The team's test driver, Franck Montagny, spent the day evaluating new differential software - specifically, the differential 'control strategy'. He also worked through different damper configurations aimed at the R24.

"Another successful programme, although we did not achieve the same mileage as yesterday," commented Renault's Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering. "Jarno concentrated on testing tyre compounds, conducting both short runs for ultimate performance and longer runs focusing on consistency, with promising results. Franck's work on the differential control strategy is already showing equal performance to the existing strategy, and holds potential for further development."

David Coulthard continued work on the McLaren MP4/19, while the team's test driver Alex Wurz was at the wheels of an MP4/17D. The pair ended the day fifth and fourth respectively.

Jaguar continued testing with Mark Webber and Christian Klien - the Australian's best time just marginally faster than Klien's. Webber himself lost some time in the morning session, when his car stopped on the circuit, but he was still able to rack up more laps than any of the other drivers, with a total of 104.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Time Laps 1. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:10.321 81 2. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:10.349 66 3. Trulli Renault (M) 1:10.418 66 4. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:10.759 93 5. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:11.075 59 6. Montagny Renault (M) 1:11.205 68 7. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:11.262 104 8. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:11.741 20 9. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:11.934 86 10. Briscoe Toyota (M) 1:11.999 68

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