Dates: 6-8 April 2004
Location: Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Drivers: Olivier Panis (6-7), Ricardo Zonta (6-8), Cristiano da Matta (8)
Track Length: 4.730km
 Olivier Panis
Total laps: 142
Best Lap Time: 1m15.803s
Chassis: TF104/06
"Since the Bahrain Grand Prix, I think we've been heading in the right
direction. We showed everybody we did a good job there, now we need to carry
on this way to take some points if possible. Here at Barcelona, we spent the
test working on setting up a repackaged chassis for the next race at Imola.
A gearbox control problem disrupted our running on Tuesday, but by Wednesday
we had solved it and we moved onto testing tyre compounds for the Spanish
Grand Prix. The weather was a bit tricky early on because it started raining
on certain corners but not on others. Now everyone is working really hard in
the factory to prepare for testing at Paul Ricard next week because its
kerbs are similar to those at Imola, where we have struggled in the past, so
we will be looking for improvements there."
 Cristiano da Matta
Total laps: 24
Best Lap Time: 1m28.457s
Chassis: TF104/06
"My one day of running here was disrupted by the weather, so it wasn't very
productive for me. Our main reason for testing was to set up for dry
conditions, but on Thursday it rained for most of the day with the track
surface switching between damp and wet. We did some wet set-up work and
tried a few experiments of different traction control settings. We found a
few things but we will have to do more running at Paul Ricard next week.
There were a few red flags, but they didn't bother us too much because we
weren't in a rush to get things done. You can work on wet set-up here, but
it's very specific to this track. Thankfully, Olivier and Ricardo achieved
more during the other two days, when the track was dry."
 Ricardo
Zonta
Total laps: 200
Best Lap Time: 1m15.984s
Chassis: TF104/05
"It's been a bit of a mixed test. On Tuesday I completed over 80 laps,
setting the car up and working on aerodynamics, launch control and traction
control. The electronic systems make a big difference to tyre wear, and we
found some improvements to lower the degradation. On Wednesday I continued
that work, along with working on tyre constructions and brakes, putting in
nearly 100 laps. Olivier carried out a very important tyre test but I had a
few problems with the car's balance as I had set it up for warmer weather.
As the track got colder towards the end of the day it became harder and
harder. The weather was very changeable on Thursday, stopping us from doing
our planned long runs to check the tyres. I'll have two days testing at
Estoril next week, and we'll do some work to find our best wet tyres there." |
