Motoya sets new lap record in testing
By Andrew Hooper
February 13 2003
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| Valencia Test 11:02:2003 Day Two of Five | |
| Day two of
testing at Valencia would see BMW WilliamsF1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya set a
new track record with a time that was very encouraging for all those at the
team as they continue to work on developing the new FW25. Juan Pablo would
finish the day with the fastest time, a time 0.3 secs. faster than the
quickest at the circuit which was set by David Coulthard.
In sunny weather the new FW25 would take to the track with several new components, including a new front wing, barge boards, plus some further mechanical updates. Juan Pablo would set a best lap timer of 1m:10.143, after completing fifty two laps. Williams Chief Operations Engineer Sam Michael was encouraged by the times that were set on the day. He said: "It's all going very well. We've got the two new aero package updates which we didn't have at the test at Barcelona and it all looks pretty good." Ralf Schumacher would also finish the day encouraged by the times. Ralf would set his personal lap time at 1m:12.52, ranking fourth on the time sheets. WilliamsF1 Test Team Manager Tim Newton commented on the days testing by saying: “Today the test team were focused on an intense pit-stop practice. Both drivers were running in the FW25 and the teams were encouraged when Juan set a new lap record for the Ricardo Tormo circuit here in Valencia. We also clocked up over 400 kms with the new package and altogether we are pleased with the progress that we achieved.” Between the two BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers came Renault's Fernando Alonso in second and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello in third. Ralf would complete a total of fifty six laps, which corresponds to a distance of 224.28 kilometres. He also carried out testing of the new aerodynamic components and the car set-up. Jordan's Ralph Firman and
Renault's Allan McNish would complete the list of drivers would tested this
day. |
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Pos Driver
Chassis-engine Tyres Time Laps |
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This should certainly help to
silence some of the critics who had believed that the new FW25 would not be
able to set a pace that would enable them to challenge Ferrari.
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