RACE SIMULATOR
Following yesterday’s rain, it was back to sunnier weather for Panasonic Toyota Racing and the seven other teams in action at Jerez today. The showers continued until shortly before the start of testing but the sun appeared soon afterwards. The tarmac took two hours to dry out but after that there was dry running for the rest of the day. Timo Glock spent the morning putting in a race simulation in the TF109. He completed the run without any problems in the changing conditions before moving on to set-up work, setting the day’s fastest lap during a late qualifying simulation. Jarno Trulli is scheduled to take over for the next two days.

Timo Glock – Chassis TF109-03
Best lap time: 1min 19.814s
Position: 1st out of 8
Total laps: 142
“That was a productive day. This morning we were again a bit unlucky with the conditions, which made the race simulation quite tough. But it was useful to find out when to change to slick tyres and our pace wasn’t bad. Then we got some dry running for the rest of the day. We did a lot of set-up work and late on we did some shorter runs to make it through the programme. We’ve made it through a lot of miles over these two days and we’re making useful progress.”

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis
“This morning’s race simulation went very well. We just had to manage very transient weather and track conditions which brought us from full wet conditions at the beginning to slicks in the course of our race. Still, we went from wet tyres to slicks at exactly the right time and Timo made it through without major difficulty. All in all it was fun, interesting and valuable mileage for the car in realistic race conditions. Because we were ahead with our schedule we spent the afternoon doing some set-up work.”

But also convincing by Force India! This could be a fun season!

In Melbourne we will see some surprises, I bet…

Day three – Tuesday
Weather conditions: Overcast in the morning, some sun in the afternoon.
Temperature: Air: 12 – 21 °C, Track: 12 – 23 °C
Number of drivers participating: 8 of 8 teams
Fastest lap overall: Timo Glock (Toyota) 1:19.814 min Circuit length: 4.428 km

Robert Kubica
Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.09-03 / BMW 86/9
Test kilometres today: 434 (98 laps)

Fastest lap: 1:21.069 min
Programme: In the morning, when the track was still damp, Robert Kubica concentrated on set-up work with the BMW Sauber F1.09 running on wet tyres. After the lunch break the team continued its development programme on a dry track. The main focus was evaluating different solutions for the car’s aerodynamics and set-up. Late in the afternoon Kubica stopped on the track after switching off the engine when a warning light came on. The reason was quickly traced to a faulty sensor, so minutes later the F1.09 was back on track completing a total of 98 laps over the day.

“Overall it was a good day”, Kubica said after completing his third day of testing in Jerez. “We were able to make up some of the time we lost yesterday when rain meant we had to change our schedule. I started on extreme wet tyres, changed to wet tyres and finally drove slick tyres. Together with the various different set-up solutions I tried that helped me get an even better feeling for the car.”

What seems to be more curious, and could be of concern to McLaren and their suporters is that they are always changing their rear-wing.
And one thing that I don’t know if everyone noticed, the 2009 rear-wing De La Rosa and Heikki used this week in Jerez, is different than the one used in the previous Jerez test.
This the wing De La Rosa used on Sunday: http://www.f1-live.com/f1/photos/2009/tests46/diapo_156.jpg
This is the wing Hamilton used 3 weeks ago: http://www.f1-live.com/f1/photos/2009/tests24/diapo_152.jpg

Considering this, plus the continuos re-usage of the 2008-spec wing, plus the aerodymic tests using coloured paints, indicate something is going on there…

Driver: Mark Webber
Car: RB5 – 02
Laps: 98
Best time: 1:21.021
Circuit length: 4.423 km
Fastest lap: T. Glock – 1:19.814

Mark Webber brought better weather with him, as he took over from Sebastian Vettel today, although the track was still wet until late morning.

After that, conditions steadily improved throughout the day.

On the programme for RB5 were race weekend simulations. All went reasonably to plan despite two minor interruptions. Mark continues driving tomorrow.

Spanish news bit about the test. Short (1m) clip of Alonso on the track.