Jerez Day 3


By TTF1 Staff
December 10 2005

Toyota were again out in force on the third day of testing in Jerez, with Jarno Trulli and Ricardo Zonta completing the miles in their new TF106 to go fourth and sixth fastest. McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa posted the fastest time of the day.

On another incident packed day, Nico Rosberg looked to have got to grips with his Williams Cosworth to go second quickest, the highest placed V8 engine. Jenson Button, who has recently always been around the top of the time sheets, was third for BAR Honda as the team looks to improve on this year’s car.

 

Ferrari’s Marc Gene replaced Badoer after his high-speed crash yesterday, the team confirming that the accident was a suspension failure, and that the problem is being addressed.

Both Toyota drivers will continue running at the Spanish circuit on Saturday before Ricardo takes part in a Bridgestone wet tyre test on Sunday.

Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF106/01
Best lap time: 1m19.670s
Friday total laps: 89
Friday total distance: 393.6km

"This was another useful day of testing for us. I spent the morning primarily working on setting up the car. Then in the afternoon we moved onto tyre testing. We have so far encountered a few difficulties in finding the ideal set-up for the car but that is only to be expected. We are still at a very early stage in our relationship with Bridgestone and we are on a steep learning curve to find out how to get the most out of the tyres. Jerez is a fine track to work on that and I'm confident that we will make considerable progress over the winter."

Ricardo Zonta - Chassis TF106/02
Best lap time: 1m19.859s
Total laps: 60
Total distance: 265.4km

"Today was mainly about testing tyres. After some set-up work in the morning we moved onto a tyre construction test. We had one interruption in the afternoon when we suffered a problem with our fuel system as we exited the garage. That meant we missed running when the track was at its best. But we still made it through most of our programme. Jerez is an excellent circuit for finding out how to use the tyres. Of course we still have a lot to learn about setting up the car on our new tyres but today has been a useful day for collecting data."

Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis

"Jarno was joined today by Ricardo for another productive day of testing. Ricardo's programme involved basic set-up work on the reference tyres this morning before doing some construction tests for Bridgestone. Jarno spent the morning doing set-up and balance work before concentrating on a tyre compound test in the afternoon. Ricardo missed out on a bit of running after a fuel system problem but overall this was a constructive day including some useful work with our tyre partner Bridgestone. Our development work with them is already paying dividends even at this early stage of our partnership."

1 P. de la Rosa McLaren Michelin 01:17.303 77
2 N. Rosberg Williams Bridgestone 01:19.174 24
3 J. Button BAR Michelin 01:19.365 122
4 J. Trulli Toyota Bridgestone 01:19.670 89
5 M. Webber Williams Bridgestone 01:19.684 55
6 R. Zonta Toyota Bridgestone 01:19.859 60
7 J. Villeneuve Sauber Michelin 01:19.864 86
8 C. Albers Midland F1 Bridgestone 01:19.952 70
9 A. Wurz McLaren Michelin 01:20.105 77
10 A. Davidson BAR Michelin 01:20.106 102
11 M. Gené Ferrari Bridgestone 01:20.981 79
12 D. Coulthard Red Bull Michelin 01:21.114 104
13 T. Monteiro Midland F1 Bridgestone 01:22.687 63