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A Michelin’s six partner
teams emerged in good shape on the opening day of the company’s home
grand prix at rain-hit Magny-Cours. No Michelin runner set a
representative lap on a completely dry track at the start of the
morning’s first free practice, when the day’s fastest time was set. But
Michelin drivers dominated the day’s second session which got off to a
damp start, but dried significantly before further rain interruptions.
Cristiano da Matta (Toyota) profited from improving conditions right at
the end to lap in 1m 15.518s – the second quickest lap of the day. The
Brazilian headed a Michelin one-two-three-four in this session, when
teams completed the majority of their serious running. Jarno Trulli
(Renault, second), Anthony Davidson (BAR-Honda, third), Jenson Button
(BAR-Honda, fourth), Fernando Alonso (Renault, sixth), David Coulthard
(Team McLaren Mercedes, seventh), Mark Webber (Jaguar, eighth) and Kimi
Räikkönen (Team McLaren Mercedes, ninth) were also on the pace in the
afternoon.
Five Michelin partners featured in the top 10.
Although drivers usually
have to select tyres for the race on a Friday, the FIA has extended the
deadline until midday Saturday in the light of today’s changeable
weather.
• Juan Pablo Montoya (BMW WilliamsF1 Team/Michelin) damaged his car
extensively when he spun off the track in the first session. He was able
to practise in the afternoon, however, when he was 13th fastest.
• Williams deputy Marc Gené was third and 14th in the day’s two
sessions. He is standing in for Ralf Schumacher, who injured his back in
a 190mph accident during the recent United States Grand Prix.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director:
“It has been an interesting day. It hasn’t been easy to draw too many
firm conclusions, of course, because of the changeable conditions, but
we still managed to get some useful comparison data with our two
dry-weather tyre compounds.
“Although conditions were
briefly damp enough to justify using extreme-wet tyres, they weren’t
actually needed because the track began to dry pretty quickly after each
cloudburst. It was nice to get to use our normal wets during an official
session – at last – and they worked well." |
