Bahrain: Reliability key to first race

By Nick Sparkes
March 8 2006

The first race of the 2006 Formula One World Championship could be decided upon your cars reliability than outright pace. Mike Gascoyne sees the new V8 engine as a challenge, and expects that even with all the pre-season testing, some of the engines won't make it to the end of the first Grand Prix.

Mike is confident that his two cars will make it to the finish. "Bahrain is a challenging place to start the year because the circuit is probably the hardest for brakes of the whole season," Gascoyne said. "The circuit is surrounded by sand and it can also get very hot, which can pose problems with the cooling of a new car. So reliability will be key, especially with this year's switch to V8 engines. But the TF106 has been very reliable in testing with no major mechanical issues so we are confident."

"The engine and chassis departments have worked very closely to ensure our package is as integrated as possible," he added. "Luca Marmorini's team has done a great job with the new V8 and we have consistently run the engines up to the mileage necessary to last two races without sacrificing performance or driveability. We have also spent the winter adapting to our switch to Bridgestone tyres, which we are sure will reap dividends. Last year we qualified on the front row here and finished second. We would like to repeat that but at this stage it is really difficult to predict where we will be."