Rosberg test for WilliamsF1 at Jerez

The second day of testing for the BMW WilliamsF1 team, at the Jerez circuit, would again see Ralf Schumacher set the fastest time. He again was joined by test driver Marc Gene, but replacing Nelson Piquet Jnr for today was the sone of former F1 champion Keke Rosberg Nico Rosberg.

Ralf would complete one hundred & six laps during the day, setting a best time of 1m:17.785. Team-mate Gene would be third behind Jenson Button, whose BAR team began testing at Jerez today. Gene would spend the day focusing his efforts on the cars traction control systems. This would include several practice starts.

For Rosberg his day would see him have one spin but his fastest lap, a time of 1m:19.544 was considerably faster than Piquet. Having said that Piquet had not previously driven an F1 car whereas Nico had previously tested for WilliamsF1. Despite this Nico's performance over the day was extremely encouraging. He would complete sixty eight laps with a best lap time of 1m:19.468.

At the end of the day WilliamsF1 Chief Operations Engineer Sam Michael commented: “For our second day of testing at Jerez, Nico Rosberg joined Ralf and Marc. Nico utilised the morning for set up work and getting used to the car, while in the afternoon he did a long run. By the end of the session, we were pleased with his competent performance on track and the feedback he relayed to the engineers.

Meanwhile, Ralf spent the day tyre testing with Michelin and developing electronic set ups. Test driver Marc Gené continued reliability and systems work on the interim car. All drivers had some useful wet weather running towards the end of the day.

Tomorrow, Ralf and Marc will work through more tyre testing and set up tasks. Nelson Piquet will return to the cockpit tomorrow, undertaking testing duties for the morning, while Nico Rosberg will take over for the afternoon session.“

The BMW WilliamsF1 Team will continue testing at Jerez on Thursday, when both Nico Rosberg and Nelsinho Piquet will drive.

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps

1. R. Schumacher WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:17.785 106
2. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:18.292 51
3. Gene WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:18.422 35
4. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:18.692 73
5. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:19.074 63
6. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:19.468 61
7. Rosberg WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:19.544 42
8. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:20.004 22
9. Burti Ferrari (B) 1:20.004 27
10. Janis Jordan-Ford (B) 1:21.980 50