WilliamsF1 drops down times in Friday 2nd Practice

The second Friday practice session at Imola would see the BMW WilliamsF1 drivers drop down the times with Nick in fourteenth and Mark eighteenth. Both drivers worked through their tyre evaluations as well as their normal programme aimed focusing on the setup of the FW27.

Nick would complete sixteen laps, with a best lap time of 1m:23.485, while Mark could only manage a time of 1m:23.964 after completing fourteen laps.

With Nick and Mark in eighth and tenth positions after the opening Friday practice at Imola the teams would start the second session. The weather remained sunny as Red Bull's Christian Klien and Jordan's Robert Doornbos were first out onto the track. There were five other cars, including the McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen.

Kimi would go fastest with a time of 1m:22.945. Klien would set his first time with a 1m:26.202, while Pedro de la Rosa would return to the top of the times with a
1m:24.230. Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella would make his first run, having spent the first session in his garage. Both Ferrari's and the BAR of Jenson Button were also out.

Jenson would go fastest with a time of 1m:21.052. Unlike the first session there was a lot of activity. BAR team-mate Takuma Sato would go fastest, while Fisichella was in sixth, and Michael Schumacher fourth. Fisichella was running with a new front wing with an extra element at the top. The only driver yet to set a time was team-mate Fernando Alonso.

With twenty minutes run Fisichella set a quick time seeing him move into second with a 1m:22.211. Rubens Barrichello would move ahead of the Italian with a 1m:22.048. After there initial runs most cars would return to the pits but as the session neared its half way mark they would start to return. Both BMW WilliamsF1 drivers would take to the track and Mark Webber would only manage a 1m:24.123 to be in fifteenth. Nick would set a time to be one place in front of his team-mate.

Sauber's Jacques Villeneuve was now seventh with a 1m:22.995. Yellow flags were shown when Jordan's Doornbos was to put his car in to the gravel, losing its front wing. He was able to continue and return to his pit. Fernando Alonso would come out for the first time out on the track. On his first lap he would set a time of 1m:23.221, to be eleventh. Wurz moved up the times with a 1m:22.174, to be third. A 1m:22.912 for Alonso would see him now in eighth. Kimi Raikkonen was now second with a 1m:21.704. Both Wurz and Raikkonen would return to their pits after setting their quick times.

A 1m:22.667 would see Alonso still in eighth and he would return to his garage looking confident. With ten minutes left to run Toyota's Ralf Schumacher would spin his Toyota on the top of the hill, at turn nine. McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa would again go fastest with a time of 1m:20.484. This time is less than a tenth off Michael Schumacher's 2004 lap record.

Alonso would come back out and look to set a quick time. He would set a time of 1m:21.899. Michael Schumacher would improve to be fifth while Toyota's Ricardo Zonta would jump into fourth with a 1m:21.889.

So as the session came to a close it would be Pedro de la Rosa fastest from Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen.