Valencia, day 4: Gene again

Williams ended the fourth day of testing at Valencia where it has been all week - at the head of the timesheets. Today (Friday) it was the turn of test driver Marc Gene to set the pace and his best lap of 1m10.51s was just fractions slower than the new track record he set on Wednesday

The Spaniard was running an 'experimental' package, although the team was unwilling to reveal the exact nature of his FW24's developments. On a day that was punctuated by three separate red flags, he was limited to just 38 laps of running, but was still over a second quicker than his nearest rival, the Renault of Jenson Button.

The Englishman was testing aerodynamic developments for Moanco and despite an engine problem just before lunch he managed 56 laps and set a best time of 1m11.54s. The team's test driver Fernando Alonso ran a new spec engine, which the team hopes to run in Canada, and he did 60 laps and was just 0.5s down on Button.

Ralf Schumacher caused one of the day's three stoppages when he spun just before the final turn, but his car was undamaged. Oliver Panis was responsible for the other two, one caused by a software glitch, while the other was an unspecified mechanical problem.

Williams and Renault return to the track tomorrow for a private Michelin wet test during which the track will be artificially soaked on a regular basis throughout the day.

Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m10.51s 38
Jenson Button Renault M 1m11.54s 56
Fernando Alonso Renault M 1m11.95s 60
Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m12.65s 58
Olivier Panis BAR-Honda B 1m12.85s 59

M = Michelin
B = Bridgestone