Barcelona 12/4/06 – Toyota 5th and 17th fastest

By Nick Sparkes
April 13 2006

Toyota, along with eight other Formula One teams headed to Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya for this weeks test. But, it seems Renault are still on top as Heikki Kovalainen set the pace, yet with the top 10 covered by under a second, the other teams are closing in on championship leaders Renault.

With 18 drivers hitting the track, it was a busy day for everybody at the warm and sunny Barcelona track, as many of the teams are bringing out updates for the up and coming San Marino Grand Prix.

Whilst Kovalainen continued his trademark of going fastest, behind Rubens Barrichello showed some improving pace in second, Fernando Alonso, who only completed 45 laps after his Renault R26 ground to a halt, was an impressive third considering his limited amount of track time.

Anthony Davidson put the second Honda fourth, whilst Japanese rival Toyota were right behind with Ricardo Zonta finishing the day fifth.

It was another very positive day of testing for Zonta, with the team improving further up the leader board with every test they complete. "It was a very good day in general. We worked on short runs, concentrating on tyre testing and aerodynamics. This is the first time that I have driven the 'new' car in Barcelona, since it was released in Vallelunga. It was very difficult with so many drivers on the track to get a clean lap, but in the end, we had a good time and were happy with the results. The car is showing potential and we still have a lot to do, but we are definitely moving ahead well."

David Coulthard was sixth fastest, but was another driver whose car failed to make it to the end of the day, with his Red Bull Ferrari stopping after 97 laps, but still finishing ahead of Mark Webber’s Williams and the sister Red Bull of Christian Klien who was eighth.

McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa and Kimi Raikkonen finished back in the pack ending up ninth and thirteenth respectively, in between the two BMW-Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica who finished eleventh and fourteenth.

Surprisingly Ferrari didn’t feature in the top half at all, with Massa taking the tenth and, Gene the sixteenth fastest time, albeit they were the busiest team on the track today.

Tonio Liuzzi continued in the much less stressed V10 limited Toro Rosso, finishing ahead of Gene’s Ferrari as well as the Toyota of Olivier Panis.

Panis who hasn’t had much running in the updated TF106, is still learning to get to grips with Toyota’s latest machine. "We worked on some electronics and had planned to work on some tyre testing, but due to some red flag delays during the day we did not finish every item we wanted to get through. However, the team worked hard and we did our best to put in 71 laps. At the end of the day I can say that I am still adapting to the car and the tyres. I am working on getting a good feeling for the balance to be able to give useful feedback. We can see from Ricardo that the car drives well and can be quick, but it is just a matter for me to carry on the tests and prepare the car for the next races. With each test, there is progress and I am confident everything is coming along."

At the tail of the field was Takuma Sato’s Super Aguri, who finished under five seconds behind the fastest man, Heikki Kovalainen.

1	H. Kovalainen		Renault		01:14.955	144
2	R. Barrichello		Honda		01:15.135	107
3	F. Alonso		Renault		01:15.251	45
4	A. Davidson		Honda		01:15.354	114
5	R. Zonta		Toyota		01:15.426	88
6	D. Coulthard		Red Bull		01:15.671	97
7	M. Webber		Williams		01:15.683	83
8	C. Klien		Red Bull		01:15.747	84
9	P. de la Rosa		McLaren		01:15.781	74
10	F. Massa		Ferrari		01:15.860	108
11	N. Heidfeld		BMW		01:15.917	75
12	N. Rosberg		Williams		01:15.955	54
13	K. Räikkönen		McLaren		01:15.957	31
14	R. Kubica		BMW		01:15.974	93
15	V. Liuzzi		Scuderia Toro Rosso		01:16.389	107
16	M. Gené		Ferrari		01:16.446	115
17	O. Panis		Toyota		01:16.812	71
18	T. Sato		Super Aguri		01:19.328	76