2nd Friday Practice: Kubica fastest again!

By BMW Sauber F1
July 14 2006

While the second free practice session for the French Grand Prix was held in even hotter conditions (35 degrees Celsius) than the first, BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Robert Kubica continued to dominate the action, once again setting the fastest time.

In session two, all three BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers contributed to the team's efforts to continue its preparations for the remainder of the French Grand Prix weekend, with Robert again turning out to be the second busiest, and quickest, driver of the session. At the end of the day, the young Pole had completed 33 laps, with his fastest lap time (1:16.902 minutes) being 0.596 seconds faster than that of second placed Fernando Alonso (1:17.498 minutes).

It was a successful debut for the radical new nose wings, nick-named the 'Twin Towers' in deference to the BMW Sauber F1 Team's Premium Partner, PETRONAS and its impressive headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, known as the Twin Towers. The team also used new vertical fins on the airbox.

The team's GP drivers, Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve, also worked on the set-up of the BMW Sauber F1.06 and completed tyre evaluations. Nick (15 laps) set a personal fastest lap time of 1:19.108 minutes to finish 14th, while Jacques (11 laps, 1:20.154 minutes) had to settle for 26th position.

In the third free practice session, held on Saturday morning at 11:00hrs CEST (10:00hrs BST), Nick and Jacques will complete the preparations for qualifying session and the race on Sunday.

Times:

1- Robert Kubica / Sauber-BMW 1:16.902

2- Fernando Alonso / Renault 1:17.498

3- Anthony Davidson / Honda 1:17.750

4- Alexander Wurz / Williams-Cosworth 1:17.859

5- Giancarlo Fisichella / Renault 1:17.916

6- Michael Schumacher / Ferrari 1:17.938

7- Adrian Sutil / MF1-Toyota 1:18.049

8- Robert Doornbos / RBR-Ferrari 1:18.175

9- Ralf Schumacher / Toyota 1:18.274

10- Neel Jani / STR-Cosworth 1:18.639

11- Jarno Trulli / Toyota 1:18.721

12- Jenson Button / Honda 1:19.005

13- Felipe Massa / Ferrari 1:19.013

14- Nick Heidfeld / Sauber-BMW 1:19.108

15- Kimi Räikkönen / McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.140

16- Christijan Albers / MF1-Toyota 1:19.183

17- Rubens Barrichello / Honda 1:19.259

18- Mark Webber / Williams-Cosworth 1:19.413

19- Vitantonio Liuzzi / STR-Cosworth 1:19.589

20- Nico Rosberg / Williams-Cosworth 1:19.692

21- Tiago Monteiro / MF1-Toyota 1:19.701

22- Pedro de la Rosa / McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.809

23- Takuma Sato Super / Aguri-Honda 1:19.996

24- Scott Speed / STR-Cosworth 1:20.003

25- David Coulthard / RBR-Ferrari 1:20.135

26- Jacques Villeneuve / Sauber-BMW 1:20.154

27- Christian Klien / RBR-Ferrari 1:20.409

28- Franck Montagny / Super Aguri-Honda 1:21.132