Barc Day 3 – Toyota 7th and 8th fastest


By Nick Sparkes
January 26 2006

Toyota got back into the swing of winter testing, with Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli putting in the miles in their Toyota TF106’s. But it was Ferrari’s new boy, Felipe Massa who was fastest in a two year old Ferrari. The leader of the new 2006 cars was none other than world champion Alonso.

Massa’s F2004 was fitted with a V8 engine, and was clearly the fastest on the track. Fernando Alonso gave Renault its 2006 racer the thumbs up, only a handful of tenths faster than Jenson Button’s Honda which was launched at the start of the day.

Fisichella and Barrichello ended up fourth and fifth respectively, whilst Nick Heidfeld continued to test BMW’s first Formula effort, finishing a convincing sixth.

Toyota worked on set up and tyre work, with Jarno Trulli getting the better of Olivier Panis for seventh and eighth. Although their lap times didn’t show it, it was another good day at the office for both drivers, and the team’s technical director Mike Gascoyne; "It was a very productive day with both cars doing a lot of laps and running reliably. Both drivers were concentrating on Bridgestone tyre work, running a mixture of casing and compound tests. We managed to get through all the work, both drivers are very happy with the car and there are some very clear tyre directions to work on."

1 F. Massa Ferrari Bridgestone 01:15.664 67
2 F. Alonso Renault Michelin 01:16.200 94
3 J. Button Honda Michelin 01:16.578 72
4 G. Fisichella Renault Michelin 01:16.728 84
5 R. Barrichello Honda Michelin 01:16.737 51
6 N. Heidfeld BMW Michelin 01:17.046 61
7 J. Trulli Toyota Bridgestone 01:17.068 109
8 O. Panis Toyota Bridgestone 01:17.422 90
9 JP. Montoya McLaren Michelin 01:17.481 80
10 D. Coulthard Red Bull Michelin 01:17.582 76
11 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso Michelin 01:18.092 85
12 G. Paffett McLaren Michelin 01:18.247 65
13 R. Kubica BMW Michelin 01:20.016 62