Honda completes Jerez test
The Honda Racing F1 Team today completed a three-day test at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain. Whilst Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello concentrated on the continued development of the new RA107 car, Christian Klien rounded off the test programme for last year’s RA106.
Jenson began the test with the RA107 on Tuesday, spending his early laps finding a good balance on the car before working through tyre and aero evaluations over the course of the day, completing 99 laps. He continued his aero programme on Wednesday, covering a further 95 laps.
Rubens took over in the RA107 on Thursday as wet and windy weather hit the circuit. He spent the day working on the balance and set-up of the new chassis in the changing track conditions, using the wet and extreme wet Bridgestone Potenza tyres. Rubens completed 66 laps in total.
Christian Klien ran in the RA106 on Tuesday completing electronic controls work and race start simulations over 33 laps.
IndyCar Series driver Marco Andretti also joined the team in Jerez this week for his second opportunity to drive the RA106. Marco began his programme on Wednesday and spent the morning re-acclimatising himself to the car, before completing data gathering exercises and race start simulations in the afternoon, covering 74 laps. With the poor weather on Thursday, Marco had his first chance to experience an F1 car in wet conditions, covering 63 laps.
Jenson Button “It was another busy week for us as we continue to put mileage on the new car and evaluate the set-up to find the best package for the varying conditions. Once again the car was reliable, enabling us to cover a good number of laps on each day.”
Rubens Barrichello “It was a positive day today although the weather meant that our programme had to be changed from the original plan. Still it was good to get some further experience on the Bridgestone wet tyres. We have a lot of work to do but with the developments that we have coming on the car, I am happy that we can continue to make good progress.”
Christian Klien “We were able to complete the test programme for the 2006 car this week which was very satisfying. Now I’m looking forward to having my chance to drive the RA107 in Barcelona next week and to begin to contribute to its development.”
Marco Andretti “It’s been awesome to have the chance to get back in a F1 car this week and I would really like to thank the Honda team for giving me this second opportunity. I have really enjoyed my two days here, and by the end of the second day with the wet conditions, I feel that I’ve really adapted to the way that the car has to be driven. So the weather was actually quite useful for me and I’ve now experienced a little bit of everything in only three days. I was happy with my long run pace over the test but the one lap times are something that I am sure would come with further time in the car.”
Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director “The main focus for the RA107 with Jenson and Rubens this week was to develop the race set-up of the car to achieve consistent lap times on longer runs. Over the course of the three days we had the opportunity to evaluate many changes in the aerodynamic configuration and mechanical set-up of the car, as well as with the electronic systems. With Christian at the wheel of the RA106, we also concluded the transition from last year’s car to fully focus on the RA107.
“It has been a pleasure to have Marco Andretti with us this week and to give him a further opportunity in the 2006 car. Once again Marco has shown a high level of ability, given his relative inexperience, and his long run pace in particular was quite impressive. With the poor weather conditions today, Marco drove for the first time in the wet and adapted very well to the difficult track conditions without making any mistakes.”
