By Huw Alban
March 10 2006

It was good to see Midland get straight out on the track for the start of the second practice session, but the team still seem to be struggling to find that competitive lap time. No fear though – this is only practice. Qualifying is the first place where lap times count. The first 15 minutes of the second practice session was a period of frantic activity for the team. Markus Winkelhock came straight out as the session started, smartly followed by Monteiro and Albers. Tiago’s first time was a 1.37.636, slower than he went 2 hours earlier but over the next few laps he managed to get that back down to 1.36.512 which is about where he was in first practice.

Albers meanwhile also recorded a slower time, but could only improve to 1.37.215 which was still slower than his best first practice time.

At the 15 minute mark both race drivers had pitted, but Markus continued to circulate on a best time of 1.36.456, 11th fastest at this point. After a brief spell in the garage Markus took to the track again with 23 minutes of the session gone, leaving the two race drivers behind.

At the half way mark all three drivers were back out and circulating, and all three were still posting green sector times showing that improvements were still being made. Winkelhock still seemed to have the edge with a 13th fastest time of 1.35.686 which was only 2.689 seconds off the current fastest lap. Tiago and Christijan were still mucking around in the 1.36s and 1.37s.

Perhaps realising that he wasn’t improving Tiago pitted after a couple of laps, followed quickly by Albers and Winkelhock. At this point 37 minutes in, Markus had managed a best time of 1.35.686, Christijan a 1.36.347, and Tiago a 1.36.512 leaving the team now 3.148 seconds off the current fastest time set by Fernando Alonso (1.32.538).

With 15 minutes to go, and time running out fast, Markus was the only MF1 driver out there and seemingly unable to improve on his time.

13 minutes to go and Monteiro and Albers take to the track. Currently they are a shade under 4 seconds slower than the current World Champion who still holds the current fastest lap. Tiago claims a 1.34.810 but Christijan fails to improve. Tiago improves again on his next lap, this time a 1.34.459 only 2.284 behind the leaders. Unfortunately the lead pack is also improving pushing the Midland times back all the time.

7 minutes to go – Monteiro pits leaving Albers to continue, but the Dutchman is struggling to improve on his current best of 1.36.314. Meanwhile, Winkelhock has also pitted but has failed to better his current fastest lap time.

5 minutes to go and Winki takes to the track again, joining Albers – it’s now or never boys – but Albers pits. Can Markus beat the current Midland best of 1.34.459 ? Unfortunately not, on all of his last laps his second sector times are abysmal and consequently he fails to improve.

So what positives can we take away? The car does seem to have pace, and it ran reliably, and the team are slightly closer to the front than they were this time last year. Also, just have a look at the Toyota team - Midland are faster than the factory backed team whose engines we are using! Not bad first time out me thinks!

We’ll have to wait until the official press release to see what the team think of their work today.

Full list of times from second practice at Bahrain:

1. 36 DAVIDSON Honda M 1'31"328 213.332 Km/h
2. 5 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'31"750 + 0'00"422
3. 35 WURZ Williams Cosworth B 1'31"787 + 0'00"459
4. 6 MASSA Ferrari B 1'32"172 + 0'00"844
5. 1 ALONSO Renault M 1'32"547 + 0'01"219
6. 20 LIUZZI Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1'32"707 + 0'01"379
7. 37 DOORNBOS RedBull Cosworth M 1'33"032 + 0'01"704
8. 2 FISICHELLA Renault M 1'33"204 + 0'01"876
9. 12 BUTTON Honda M 1'33"234 + 0'01"906
10. 38 KUBICA BMW Sauber M 1'33"235 + 0'01"907
11. 3 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'33"603 + 0'02"275
12. 4 MONTOYA McLaren Mercedes M 1'33"781 + 0'02"453
13. 16 HEIDFELD BMW Sauber M 1'33"850 + 0'02"522
14. 15 KLIEN RedBull Ferrari M 1'33"883 + 0'02"555
15. 40 JANI Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1'33"909 + 0'02"581
16. 21 SPEED Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1'34"303 + 0'02"975
17. 11 BARRICHELLO Honda M 1'34"334 + 0'03"006
18. 14 COULTHARD RedBull Ferrari M 1'34"359 + 0'03"031
19. 18 MONTEIRO Midland Toyota B 1'34"818 + 0'03"490
20. 10 ROSBERG Williams Cosworth B 1'34"991 + 0'03"663
21. 7 R.SCHUMACHER Toyota B 1'35"177 + 0'03"849
22. 39 WINKELHOCK Midland Toyota B 1'35"688 + 0'04"360
23. 8 TRULLI Toyota B 1'35"906 + 0'04"578
24. 17 VILLENEUVE BMW Sauber M 1'36"272 + 0'04"944
25. 19 ALBERS Midland Toyota B 1'36"344 + 0'05"016
26. 9 WEBBER Williams Cosworth B 1'37"009 + 0'05"681
27. 22 SATO S. Aguri F1 Honda B 1'37"609 + 0'06"281
28. 23 IDE S. Aguri F1 Honda B 1'39"038 + 0'07"710