By Renault F1
September 19 2006

GP2 runner-up debuts with Renault at Silverstone Renault started its final planned test session of the 2006 season today in Silverstone, running with Heikki Kovalainen and giving Nelson Piquet Jr his debut drive with the team. Kovalainen started his programme this morning with set up changes to the car and as the track conditions improved he was able to work on tyre selection for the Japanese Grand Prix with partner Michelin. At the end of the session, Kovalainen had set fastest time in 1:19.125s and covered 91 laps.

"We made good progress today regarding the tyre selection for Suzuka," said the Finn. "The track was changing a lot so we will need to analyse the data to evaluate the level performance of each type of tyre but it was a good day of testing."

On the other side of the garage, Nelson Piquet Jr joined the team for his first test as a Renault driver and focused on discovering the R26 and the team's working procedures. The Brazilian acclimatized himself well. He showed a good level of performance and worked hard for his first day with the team. He finally set the fourth-fastest lap time in 1:19.723s and completed 71 laps today.

"It was a good first day of testing," Piquet stated.
"There are some similarities with the GP2 car in terms of the clutch and electronics, but I still have a lot to learn, so the main thing for today was to do as much running as possible, and to take everything on-board."

"It's important I think to learn a lot straight away and to meet the people I am going to work with. It was a busy and interesting day, and I felt comfortable in the car straight away which is quite positive I think."

Chief Test Engineer Christian Silk was happy with the day and Piquet's Renault debut. "We started slowly this morning owing to the poor track conditions and then we worked on tyre testing for Suzuka as it is our priority for this session this week. Regarding Nelson, we wanted him to acclimatize to the team and our way of working and procedures. He did a nice first day of testing and acclimatized himself well."

1 . H. Kovalainen - Renault R26 - 1:19.125 (+ 0.000 ) - 91 laps
2 . R. Zonta - Toyota TF106B - 1:19.381 (+ 0.256 ) - 46 laps
3 . F. Montagny - Toyota TF106B - 1:19.654 (+ 0.529 ) - 38 laps
4 . N. Piquet - Renault R26 - 1:19.723 (+ 0.598 ) - 71 laps
5 . C. Albers - Spyker MF1 Toyota M16 - 1:21.115 (+ 1.990 ) - 48 laps
6 . S. Yamamoto - Super Aguri Honda SA06 - 1:24.361 (+ 5.236 ) - 50 laps
7 . A. Valles - Spyker MF1 Toyota M16 - 1:25.401 (+ 6.276 ) - 56 laps
8 . N. Karthikeyan - Williams Toyota FW28 - 1:28.284 (+ 9.159 ) - 6 laps
9 . L. Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 - No Time (+ N/A ) - 9 laps

Renault F1