By Ian Lockwood
January 16 2008

David Coulthard was at the wheel of Red Bull Racing’s challenger for the 2008 season, the RB4, giving the new car its first ever run at the Jerez circuit today. The day can be described as successful, given that DC completed a total of 54 laps, putting in some long runs in dry conditions this afternoon, having completed a couple of installation laps on a damp track in the morning.

ADRIAN NEWEY:

"Today was all about giving the new car a good shakedown and getting some miles on it. Now we hope to settle down to proper performance testing, starting in Valencia next week. The car’s potential? Far too early to say!"

GEOFFREY WILLIS:

"This was an encouraging start with quite a few laps completed for what was a shakedown day. We went through most of the systems and completed much of what we needed to do prior to performance testing. We were able to look at several elements, such as the cooling system and various other data, with everything working reasonably well. We now have a few days to get more parts ready for some tough testing in Valencia next week."Running alongside RB4,

Mark Webber continued in RB3 today. "This has been a successful test and we are happy with the progress made," commented Chief Test Engineer, Ian Morgan. "We worked mainly on tuning the electronics, with particular regard to starts and got through all our programme."The team resumes testing at the Valencia circuit, running from 22-24 January.

Successful Shakedown for RB4

Discussion started by Racing Bulls , 16/01/2008 18:15

Racing Bulls
16/01/2008 18:15

Successful Shakedown for RB4

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SoliRossi (is200)
16/01/2008 22:55

with an engine failure.

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Andy_SAFC
16/01/2008 23:01

We dont make the engines

www.UfficiosoSTR.com

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growler
16/01/2008 23:09

Also don't know how old the engine was.

www.racingbulls.net

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f1man
16/01/2008 23:15

really disappointed but will wait, but yeah!

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Andy_SAFC
16/01/2008 23:17

disappointed with what? the engine wasn't our promblem and we lost no or very little track take because of it and the aim of the day was not to top the time sheets.

www.UfficiosoSTR.com

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f1man
16/01/2008 23:33

aero, i am diaaspointed with the new aero, look at bmw, yes mechanical was our problem but still,

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Andy_SAFC
16/01/2008 23:37

It could well change by Melbourne

www.UfficiosoSTR.com

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f1man
16/01/2008 23:54

not hopefully, better! thanks a man

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WebHead
17/01/2008 00:09

When I see the new BMW, I think of the new Honda from 07. Looked great pre season and all... Then again, who really knows?

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markwebber#1
17/01/2008 00:23

Guys, you simply cannot judge a car on it's appearance. I maintain that last season's car was very good aero-wise, but had mechanical shortfalls. If those are rectified, we're looking good.
And, I think it was a very good first day. It was a wet day, first day the car has run, got almost 60 laps down. How many did RB3 get on first day? 17 or something?
Fact is, times mean nothing. Bourdais wouldn't really be ahead of Ferraris. Adrian and the guys have said they just wanted laps, not times
It WILL come.

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WebHead
17/01/2008 01:22

Depends on what everyone was hoping for. The team seems to be aiming to be the best after McLaren and Ferrari. If you were hoping for more, that was never gonna happen IMO.

The BMW aero looks great, but maybe the car will be really hard to drive? Bad balance or something... Who knows.

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Duffer
17/01/2008 03:32

Hey F1man, this time last year I was sure the 07 Renault was going to be 3 seconds faster than anything else because it was so beautiful. It wasn't. You might get a surprise at Melbourne!

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Ari
17/01/2008 03:43

Really, all we can hope for at the moment is that they can get enough laps out there to create a decent sample for analyzing data. If they can do that, then the true challenge is in finding where they can make time.

Right now, just do laps.

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jez33
17/01/2008 09:00

I couldn't see a massive deviation with the new BMW either.

Not that any of this matters since you simply cannot judge a book by it's covers.
And judging an F1 car by it's 'looks' is plain stupid if you ask me.

The key thing to watch out for during the tests over the next few weeks will be how many uninterrupted laps the team get with RB4.
This will reveal how the season will go as it will indicate whether the team have been able to manage their achilles heel.

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markwebber#1
17/01/2008 09:31

I agree jez, at the launch, the BMW wasn't massively different. New aero on the RB4 will come, and besides, it's probably a bloody good car to start with anyway. If we have reliability, should be in for a vintage year. Have faith guys!!

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f1man
17/01/2008 22:08

ok ok i really liked the renault 07 comment true ok i will hope just a little dissapointed but yes ok i will wait :-) thanks guys

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