Ralf Quickest in the Wet at Jerez - Final Day

The first testing session of 2004 came to an end today at the Jerez circuit, with three teams wrapping up a seven-day test at the Spanish track.

The four men in action were, for the second consecutive day, hampered by the fog, which did not allow them to start working properly until the afternoon, when the track was artificially watered to carry out a wet test for tyre supplier Michelin.

German Ralf Schumacher finished on top of the times with the Williams FW26, completing a very successful test for the new BMW-powered machine. The Williams driver outpaced Briton Jenson Button, whose BAR team were back to work today after skipping yesterday's session.

"Ralf and Marc successfully completed a wet tyre test for Michelin with Ralf driving the FW26 and Marc the FW24," explained Sam Michael, Williams' chief operations engineer. "Over the course of the seven days, all three drivers have collated some valuable data and recorded some impressive mileage.

"We're now looking forward to the test at Barcelona next week where we hope to make further improvements."

Williams were the only team with two drivers on track, with Spaniard Marc Gene driving the old FW24 car. The test driver finished at the bottom of the times behind Australian Toyota driver Ryan Briscoe, the busiest man today with 92 laps.

"In three days, I have been able to complete over 300 laps and we completed our test programme without any dramas," said Briscoe. "We had some very foggy mornings, which limited running in the morning, but we more than made up for that in the afternoon sessions - over 1300 kilometres in three days is pretty good going.

"The majority of our run plan was again focussed on Michelin tyre development, which will be one of the most influential areas of performance again this season. Today, the track was made artificially wet in order for us to extend our work with Michelin to evaluate wet weather rubber.

"Additionally, we did a lot of work on traction control and gearshifts this week, so all in all it has been a busy, but useful test and I am looking forward to next week's session in Barcelona."

Testing will return to Jerez in February.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:26.978 61 2. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:27.419 76 3. Briscoe Toyota (M) 1:28.168 92 4. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:29.153 75 All Timing Unofficial

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