Busy test week for Honda
The Honda Racing F1 Team completed the final test of the 2007 season at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain today. Race drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button completed the majority of the running in preparation for the last three races of the season with James Rossiter rounding up the test programme on the final afternoon.
Rubens kicked off the test programme on Tuesday where he began the evaluation of various aerodynamic options. Rubens worked through a number of set-ups over the course of the day covering 78 laps.
Jenson joined the team on Wednesday and spent the morning establishing a good set-up before continuing the aero programme in the afternoon completing 74 laps in total. Jenson continued his running on Thursday morning when he once again focused on aero comparisons covering a further 48 laps.
James took over the driving responsibilities for the final afternoon, completing the planned test programme with further aero evaluations alongside suspension and general set-up work. James completed 32 laps over the session.
Rubens Barrichello “Although I was not planning to test in Jerez this week, I felt it was important to evaluate the new parts. The car felt different to drive and it was good to establish what was working and what was not. I felt some improvements in the braking area which gives me confidence going to Fuji for the next race.”
Jenson Button "As it was the last test of the season this week, we focused on preparing the car for the final three races. Both Rubens and I ran the car in different aero configurations to establish the best package and after a day and a half in the car, it was clear which direction we should be taking. It is always fun going to a new circuit so I am looking forward to the challenge of Fuji, although I am personally saddened at the absence of Suzuka this year as it is one of my favourite race tracks.”
James Rossiter “It was good to be back with the Honda Racing F1 Team and I am pleased to have contributed to the test programme this week. I spent the afternoon acclimatising to the car and then working through a series of set-up and suspension evaluations to assist the team in their preparation for the final three races.”
Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director “In Jerez this week, we completed some fundamental aero evaluations to verify the correlation of our wind tunnel data with the track data. Both Rubens and Jenson tested different front wing and barge board configurations which will also assist us in developing our car package in 2008. This package has not been specifically developed around the RA107 but we are pleased with the initial feedback from the test in that the data correlation looks very good and we can therefore now put all our efforts into the development of the RA108. James Rossiter also tested new damper configurations this afternoon which gave positive results and will form part of the package for the forthcoming races.”
