New lap record for Juan Pablo at Valencia test


By Andrew Hooper
February 19 2004

 

 

  
Valencia Test 18:02:2004 Day One of Three
 
As the teams move closer to the opening race of the 2004 season the BMW WilliamsF1 team returned to testing, this time at the Valencia circuit for their penultimate test. Present were Juan Pablo Montoya and test driver Marc Gene. Both drivers had FW26's at their disposal and by the end of the day Juan Pablo had set a new track record.

Juan Pablo would set a time of 1m:09.103. This would beat the time set by WilliamsF1 test driver Antonio Pizzonia, who had set the previous record the last time the team had tested at this circuit.

Both drivers would spend the morning focusing on tyre testing for Michelin, with Juan Pablo focusing on constructions and Marc on compounds. In the afternoon Juan Pablo would focus on the cars traction control systems. Involved in this were several practice starts.

Juan Pablo would complete eighty five laps while Marc would complete ninety three laps, with a best time of 1m:10.301.

WilliamsF1 Chief Operations Engineer Sam Michael commented on the days work. He said: "On our first day back at Valencia, Juan Pablo worked on set-up changes, tyre construction testing, brake cooling and traction control routines on the FW26 throughout the day. Marc spent most of the session tyre testing, working through different compounds for Michelin."

Juan Pablo continues testing tomorrow, joined by Ralf Schumacher.
 

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps

1. Montoya WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:09.103 85
2. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:09.467 98
3. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:09.514 110
4. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1.09.893 67
5. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:09.894 129
6. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:10.219 101
7. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:10.250 126
8. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:10.299 81
9. Gene WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:10.301 93
10. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:10.412 74
11. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:10.532 45
 
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