Silverstone day 1: McLaren rules roost
McLaren had Silverstone all to themselves today as they began a three-day test at the Northamptonshire track. Alex Wurz continued development on the MP4-17D whilst the team tested British Formula 3 driver Steven Kane.
Kane, runner-up in this year's F3 Scholarship Class, was present to take his prize drive for winning the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award in 2001, when he also won the Junior Formula Ford title.
Kane completed nine flying laps out of a total of fifteen circuits, getting to within two seconds of Wurz's best at the point when he stopped. The Northern Irishman's early caution meant that low tyres pressures caused the chassis to bottom out, and he also found the seatbelts too loose. But both problems were rectified ahead of his second run.
Wurz suffered a breakdown after just four laps this morning, so had to switch to the third chassis that the team brought to Silverstone. He still only completed 20 laps in what was a quiet day's testing.
Darren Turner was also there to run a few installation laps in the car and brief Kane ahead of his runs. Pedro de la Rosa is down to join Wurz tomorrow until the test ends on Thursday.
Alex Wurz (Mclaren-Mercedes) 1m22.803s 20
Darren Turner (Mclaren-Mercedes) 1m24.336s 18
Steven Kane (McLaren Mercedes) 1m25.48s 15
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