Weather Hampers Minardi's Test at Misano

Difficult weather at the Misano circuit hampered Minardi's testing programme for the week, the Italian squad being forced to reduced their planned two-day test.

After being unable to run on Thursday due to ice and snow, Minardi could complete their technical programme today with a pair of PS04B cars for drivers Christijan Albers, Chanoch Nissany and Nicolas Kiesa.

Dutchman Albers, who will race for Minardi in 2005, was the quickest of the three, posting a best time of 1:14.270 after 57 laps.

"Clearly, the conditions were not good today, with water running across the track surface in places," said Albers. "Even so, I'm satisfied with the work we've done and feel as though, in combination with the engineers, we've made some real progress developing a chassis set-up that is effective and with which I feel comfortable.

"It has not been an easy test, by any means, but we have taken some useful steps towards our goal of being prepared for the first Grand Prix of the season, in Australia, in just over four weeks' time."

Kiesa, meanwhile, carried out set-up work and assessed revised control software and covered 10 laps, the best being 1:20.400.

"I was first out on track this morning, the plan being to carry out two timed runs in order to clock up a bit of additional mileage and to check some revised chassis software," said Kiesa.

"The track conditions were very poor initially, with a lot of dust and dirt on the surface, but even so, we came up with a configuration for the brakes and the differential that inspired confidence.

"As a result, I feel I was able to deliver some useful feedback to the engineers, and I'm pleased with that. I hope to be able to test again for the team and to continue the useful work that we've been doing."

Test driver Nissany covered just six laps and finished over 10 seconds off Albers' with a best time of 1:25.380.

"It has not been a normal testing day, as the track surface was very slippery and the conditions were pretty difficult," said Nissany. "Even so, you can learn from such challenging circumstances, and I know I have discovered some things today that will be useful in the future."