Renault happy with Barcelona test session
ING Renault F1 Team concludes its 3-day test session on the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. The day was mainly devoted to testing the reliability of the new standard ECU, the MES TAG31OB ECU, which all the teams will have to use from 2008 onwards.
Heikki Kovalainen, who has done all the driving for Renault this week, continued to fine-tune his R27, testing various set-ups and getting to grips with a car that has neither traction control nor EBS.
The Finn was able to complete a full programme this week without any major problems. Today, he was slightly delayed by a mechanical incident. Thanks to the efforts of his mechanics Heikki wound up the day having gathered a lot of data, which will now be analysed when the team gets back to the factory tomorrow.
On his final day Heikki set the quickest time in 1’20.659 having covered 81 laps.
ING Renault F1 Team will be testing in Jerez at the start of December with Nelson Piquet Jr at the wheel.
Heikki Kovalainen: “Today, we finished our 3-day test session, which has been very positive in my opinion. The car handled well right from the start. We’ve worked on the new ECU and we’ve kept progressing over the three days. We’ve been competitive whatever the track conditions, and we’ve shown how determined Renault is to fight its way back to the front in 2008. I think it’s a very important first step in our development programme for next season. Even if we know there are a number of areas where we can still progress, we’ve already done a good job this week.”
Christian Silk, Test Chief Engineer: “We’ve ending this test with very positive results. The mechanics did a great job today to enable us to get back out as quickly as possible, and achieve our mileage objective. We did a lot of work on the brakes, and recorded a load of interesting data that we’ll have to analyse on our return to Enstone. We revised the car’s set-up last night, and Heikki seemed very satisfied today with its overall balance, which is very encouraging. The track changed throughout the day and the car coped with these changes very well. I think it’s fair to say that these three days have been very positive. Now, we’ll try to take advantage of our next test on the Jerez circuit to prepare for the arrival of the R28 in the best possible conditions.”
Heikki Kovalainen R27-06, 81 laps, 377 km, fastest lap: 1’20.654
