Valencia - Thursday - Testing
Testing continued today in Valencia with 16 racers able to take advantage of rare dry conditions at the Spanish test circuit. It was close at the top of the timesheets with Fernando Alonso leading the way for Renault by just three thousandths of a second from Jenson Button in the Honda.
Ferrari has three drivers on track today with Felipe Massa leading the way in the older F2004M V8 while Michael Schumacher was fifth fastest despite stopping on track in the morning session in the new 248 F1, just behind Anthony Davidson in the second Honda. Valentino Rossi was back on track in the older V10 Ferrari and despite a few spins, managed the 12th best time, a second off Massa`s pace.

Red Bull had Christian Klien in action with the Austrian setting the sixth best time in the RB2 ahead of Heikki Kovalainen in the new R26.

Jacques Villeneuve was eighth best in the BMW Sauber working on general setup, while the Toyota duo of Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli set the ninth and 15th best times respectively.

Over at Williams Cosworth, Alex Wurz managed the tenth best time in the older FW27C chassis despite stopping out on track while Nico Rosberg was less than a tenth slower in the new FW28. Rosberg did however suffer a couple of spins and an off.

McLaren Mercedes continued to struggle for pure speed with Pedro de la Rosa and Juan Pablo Montoya recording the 13th and 14th best times respectively ahead of Trulli and BMW Sauber test driver Robert Kubica in the C24B chassis.

Valencia - 02/02/2006
1 . F. Alonso - Renault R26 - 1:10.904 (+ 0.000 ) - 90 laps
2 . J. Button - Honda RA106 - 1:10.907 (+ 0.003 ) - 85 laps
3 . F. Massa - Ferrari F2004M V8 - 1:11.284 (+ 0.380 ) - 50 laps
4 . A. Davidson - Honda RA106 - 1:11.573 (+ 0.669 ) - 128 laps
5 . M. Schumacher - Ferrari 248 F1 - 1:11.649 (+ 0.745 ) - 48 laps
6 . C. Klien - Red Bull Ferrari RB2 - 1:11.796 (+ 0.892 ) - 71 laps
7 . H. Kovalainen - Renault R26 - 1:12.011 (+ 1.107 ) - 89 laps
8 . J. Villeneuve - BMW Sauber F1.06 - 1:12.179 (+ 1.275 ) - 104 laps
9 . R. Schumacher - Toyota TF106 - 1:12.182 (+ 1.278 ) - 92 laps
10 . A. Wurz - Williams Cosworth FW27C - 1:12.246 (+ 1.342 ) - 84 laps
11 . N. Rosberg - Williams Cosworth FW28 - 1:12.313 (+ 1.409 ) - 46 laps
12 . V. Rossi - Ferrari F2004M V10 - 1:12.315 (+ 1.411 ) - 54 laps
13 . P. de la Rosa - McLaren Mercedes MP4-20B - 1:12.360 (+ 1.456 ) - 92 laps
14 . J. P. Montoya - McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 - 1:12.488 (+ 1.584 ) - 61 laps
15 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF106 - 1:12.525 (+ 1.621 ) - 72 laps
16 . R. Kubica - BMW Sauber C24B - 1:12.811 (+ 1.907 ) - 48 laps.

Tags: grand-prix,