Jerez tests point to promise in final races for Honda

With the championship nearing its conclusion, the Honda Racing F1 Team has continued to push the development of the RA106 car and RA806E engine right up to the end of the season, completing six days of intensive testing in Jerez over the past two weeks.

“We go to China encouraged by our recent race performances and our most recent test in Jerez,” says Sporting Director Gil de Ferran. “Hopefully we can maintain our steady progression in performance and be fighting at the front of the field yet again. Both of our drivers have been very successful in the Chinese Grand Prix in previous years and Shanghai is a great addition to the calendar for our team.”

The tests provided the final opportunity for race drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button to prepare for the three remaining flyaway races. They focused on the continuing development of the latest specification Honda engine for the last two grands prix, intensive tyre and aerodynamic evaluation programmes, as well as electronic controls upgrades.

“The tests have been very positive with developments on the aero and electronics packages, plus intensive evaluation of the tyres for Shanghai and the final races,” confirms Rubens Barrichello. “Importantly the car and engine were very reliable and we hope that this will enable us to continue the strong performance that we have shown over the last three races since the Hungarian Grand Prix.”