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The Honda Racing F1 Team completed the three-day test at the Circuit de
Catalunya in Barcelona today as the team continues its preparations for
the start of the 2008 Formula One season in Australia on 16 March.
Rubens and Alex began the test programme on Monday on a track
surface that was damp and slippery following overnight rain. Both
drivers ran through a qualifying simulation in the morning, running on
the extreme wet and wet Bridgestone tyres in changing conditions. The
circuit dried sufficiently to allow dry running in the afternoon with
Rubens and Alex successfully completing full race distances with pit
stops. Rubens covered 115 laps over the day with Alex totalling 109
laps.
Jenson joined Rubens at the wheel of the RA108s on
Tuesday morning with the test programme continuing to focus on
qualifying and race practice. Neither driver was able to complete their
full race distances on this occasion as running was brought to an early
conclusion with two different issues stopping the cars on their second
stints. The team have identified the cause of the problems and will be
implementing the required fixes. Jenson completed 66 laps with Rubens
covering 73 laps.
The final day of the test on Wednesday
saw Alex back in the car running alongside Jenson. The drivers spent
the morning working on the set-up and handling of the car, alongside a
race start programme, before working through a further race simulation
exercise in the afternoon. Jenson completed 89 laps with Alex finishing
the day on 109 laps.
The team will complete its pre-season preparations at a private test at the Jerez circuit from Tuesday 4 to Thursday 6 March.
Rubens Barrichello
“I
was able to complete a lot of laps over the two days, particularly with
the race distance on Monday. We had a minor concern with the engine on
Tuesday which cut my race distance short but the issue is easy to
address. We are finding that the performance of the car is quite varied
as I had a different reaction from the car over the two days so we have
some set-up work to complete. It is too early to make a final comment
on performance as we have our new aero update kit to evaluate next
week.”
Jenson Button
“Our focus this week was
to run through the requirements of a race weekend with qualifying and
race practice to ensure that we are well prepared for the start of the
season. Our main aero updates and some new mechanical developments will
arrive for the Jerez test next week and we have a great deal to do
there to ensure that we are in a position to be competitive for
Melbourne. We have been doing a lot of work to overcome our handling
issues but the pace and the lap times are not there yet.”
Alex Wurz
“On
Monday, we completed a full race distance, along with the opportunity
to drive in the wet conditions, which was very useful for working on
engine drivability. We have made some good steps on the drivability
over the last few tests which is pleasing. The programme for Wednesday
concentrated on set-up evaluations and suspension development which
proved to be very interesting and we gained a lot of understanding and
data which we will work on processing before the start of the season.”
Steve Clark – Head of Race & Test Engineering
“The
focus of our test programme this week was to run through qualifying and
race scenarios in preparation for the start of the season with our race
drivers, pit crew and equipment. Running the car over a race distance
and tightly timed practice sessions highlights any reliability concerns
and ensures the team are familiar with the car and its workings. This
all went well with race practices on all three days and qualifying
simulations on Monday and Tuesday. We also completed an evaluation of
revised suspension settings on Wednesday morning to address the
handling concerns that the RA108 has been experiencing, which produced
some positive results. We now have a three-day test in Jerez next week,
where we will be running with a completely revised aerodynamic package,
to finalise our pre-season preparation.”
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