Wurz Still Ahead at Valencia

McLaren's tester Alexander Wurz was quickest for the second consecutive time on the final day of testing at the Valencia circuit.

Wurz was again the only man capable of lapping the Ricardo Tormo circuit in less than 70 seconds, stopping the clock in 1:09.901 to finish over seven tenths ahead of Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who had a more productive session than yesterday.

After being hit by all sort of problems on Thursday, Alonso managed a total of 112 laps as he focused on tyre work for Michelin. The Spanish driver finished ahead of teammate Franck Montagny, who drove the second R24 car.

Felipe Massa was fourth quickest in the only Sauber on track after taking over from teammate Jacques Villeneuve at the wheel of the new C24. The Brazilian was the quickest driver in a 2005 car, outpacing Briton Anthony Davidson in the BAR 007.

"It was another good testing day for us," said Sauber's race engineer Giampaolo Dall'Ara. "The car ran without any technical problems, and Felipe was able to complete a lot of laps. In the morning we worked mainly on the set-up, and we were able to improve the performance gradually.

"In the afternoon we ran a compound test for Michelin and did some long-runs in order to learn how to achieve the best possible consistency. Overall the three days were very productive. The C24 shows already a high level of reliability which enabled us to cover a total of 309 laps.

"This is really impressive for a new car. However, there is still a lot for us to learn about the set-up of the car, because the new regulations make a big difference to recent years when we could build on the experience from previous seasons."

Davidson, like teammate Jenson Button yesterday, also succumbed to an engine failure during the day. BAR also worked with Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi driving the 2005-spec 006.

Testing returns to Valencia next Tuesday.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:09.901 124 2. Alonso Renault (M) 1:10.688 112 3. Montagny Renault (M) 1:11.188 80 4. Massa Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:11.215 110 5. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:11.499 118 6. Bernoldi BAR-Honda (M) 1:11.724 32 All Timing Unofficial

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