Gene goes fastest on day three at Jerez

The WilliamsF1 team continued their Jerez test and again both WilliamsF1 drivers would be at the top of the times except this time it was the turn of Marc Gene to set the fastest time ahead of teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.

On a damp day that improved Gene continued to use an updated FW25,set a best lap time of 1m:17.401 to finish less than a tenth of a second ahead of Montoya. Juan Pablo continued to test the new FW26.

But after the large margins that the WilliamsF1 drivers were able to head their rivals on the first two days of testing today saw that margin reduced.

Both drivers continued with tyre development work while Juan Pablo continued with development of the setup for the new FW26. Marc would work on endurance runs with his Michelin tyres.

WilliamsF1 Chief Operations Engineer Sam Michael said: "Drivers Juan Pablo and Marc returned to the track today to continue preparation work of the new car. Juan Pablo progressed development of the FW26, concentrating on mechanical and aero set ups. Having completed 56 laps, we’re pleased with the data we’ve recorded and will continue work on the FW26 over the weekend with Ralf. Again Marc was running the FW25B and successfully completed 71 laps and recorded the best time of the session while progressing with the tyre testing programme.”

Ralf Schumacher joins Juan Pablo on Saturday, with Marc taking one day off.

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps

1. Gene WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:17.299 71
2. Montoya WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:17.498 56
3. Trulli Renault (M) 1:17.683 86
4. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:17.998 75
5. Montagny Renault (M) 1:18.320 75
6. Panis Toyota (M) 1:18.513 94
7. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:18.576 85
8. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:18.896 81
9. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:18.914 33
10. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:18.996 82
11. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:19.589 45
12. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:19.724 22