By Renault F1
November 29 2006

Testing continues with another busy day in Barcelona. Piquet and Kovalainen collecting data. For the second day of testing at the Catalan circuit, the Renault F1 Team had just one goal: to continue negotiating the steep learning curve associated with the change to Bridgestone tyres. The team is making steady progress, establishing reference points and learning the working practices of its new Japanese partner.

Heikki Kovalainen began the day testing different helmet types, in order assess their impact on air intake pressure. He then continued with a programme composed mainly of tyre testing, which he had commenced yesterday.

His young team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr., who drove an F1 car in Barcelona for the first time yesterday, continued working on set-up changes to adapt the car’s handling to the new tyres, and continuing the data acquisition process.

It proved to be a busy day in spite of mid-morning rain and by the end of the day, the cars had completed a total of 134 laps, with a best time of 1:18.307 for Nelson (also running next year’s gearbox) and 1:18.752 for Heikki. The gap between the drivers was explained by the difference in their technical programmes.

After a five week break, the test team is now really getting back into the swing of things, as Chief Test Engineer Christian Silk explained: “This was a very positive day for our reliability testing. We completed a substantial programme and collected a lot of data, particularly about the Bridgestone tyres. There is still a long way to go with our work, and we are aware of that, but that is the whole point of coming testing at this stage of the winter.”

The Renault F1 Team will complete its testing in Barcelona tomorrow, with the same driver line-up, before moving south to Jerez for next week’s running.

Nelson Piquet Jr.

“I had another good day, doing lots of laps without any problems, which is very positive for me and is allowing me to continue learning with the team. I am trying to make the most of each session to get to know better the people I ma working with, and to get some reference points. We will continue our work tomorrow because there’s still lots left to do!”

Heikki Kovalainen
“We have a heavy workload at this sessions and a lot to learn, firstly about the tyres of course but also about how they affect the handling of the car. We are making good progress and collecting important data, which is our main objective for the week.”

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer
“This was a very positive day for our reliability testing. We completed a substantial programme and collected a lot of data, particularly about the Bridgestone tyres. There is still a long way to go with our work, and we are aware of that, but that is the whole point of coming testing at this stage of the winter.”