Valencia 4: Ralf in the rain
Ralf Schumacher emerged fastest of the five drivers who stayed on in Valencia for the final day of the four-day test in Spain. Although it was all largely irrelevant in the end due to heavy rain that rendered the circuit undriveable
Takuma Sato, who only managed one lap - which included a spin - described conditions as like trying "to drive on a skating rink". Schumacher and Williams team-mate Marc Gene both managed 27 laps, but in the end even they concluded that the day was a write-off. The weather was too bad even to spend time evaluating Michelin's latest wet weather constructions.
Sato was the man who lost out most, having planned to spend today working on set-up with the new BAR 006 chassis. Up until now the Japanese driver has been concentrating on the team's massive Michelin tyre programme.
Toyota were third and fourth quickest with Ryan Briscoe outpacing Ricardo Zonta, while Jaguar hung on for the final day but packed up this morning after seeing the weather.
BAR-Honda has now cancelled its planned test at Imola next week after reports that the Italian circuit is likely to be under a blanket of snow. The team will instead go to Silverstone along with Jaguar and Renault. Ferrari, Williams and McLaren will test at Imola, where they will be joined by Toyota.
Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m36.966s 27
Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m36.828s 27
Ryan Briscoe Toyota M 1m41.939s 5
Ricardo Zonta Toyota M 1m43.258s 13
Takuma Sato BAR-Honda M no time 1
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