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The final day of the AT&T
Williams pre-season testing would see Kazuki Nakajima continue his testing duties. Kazuki would continue with the preparations of the FW31 for the 2009
season, including set-up work, tyre and aero testing. In what was an
encouraging day for the Williams team Kazuki would complete the test with
the quickest time of the week at the Jerez circuit.
Kazuki's
best lap was a 1m:17.494 which was nearly four tenths of a second quicker
than the previous best, set by Jenson Button on Tuesday. This showing of
pace from the FW31 must have been a positive step for the team as they
prepare for the long flight to Melbourne. The team should also be confident
in regard to the reliability shown by the FW31 during winter testing.
Team Quotes:
Sam Michael, Technical Director, Williams F1:
“Kazuki was back in the cockpit today working through last minute
reliability and performance items that required sign-off for Melbourne. We
have put over 8,000kms on the FW31 in the last two months and, while there
are always areas that require attention, reliability has been good. We’ve
also been working hard with Toyota to achieve good reliability on the
engine’s working range, which has been subject to a reduction in revs but an
increase in mileage. Considering the time we’ve had to do this, the work has
gone well. At Williams, we are fortunate in that we have an exceptionally
strong group of people on our test team who really are the unsung heroes of
the sport. Our crew has worked flat out over the winter, repeatedly taking
the FW31 apart and putting it back together, checking everything over and
over again to ensure reliability and re-building the car after incidents,
all of which is usually done late into the night. We thank them for their
tremendous efforts over the past few months and for their contribution to
the FW31.”
Nico Rosberg:
“Now that we’ve reached the end of testing, I think that we are probably in
a strong mid-field position, but we will have to wait until Melbourne to be
certain. There’s great potential for development over the year with the new
rules. If we take the right direction with that development from the outset,
it will help us make good steps forward, so we will be pushing hard to make
that happen.
I’d like to thank everyone at the factory for their hard work with the FW31
but particularly the test team for their motivation and drive throughout the
winter despite any uncertainties there might be following the in-season test
ban that has been put into place. On the back of a difficult season last
year, it’s been great to see everyone’s determination and I am grateful for
all their efforts.”
Kazuki Nakajima:
“Firstly, I think we’ve had a successful run of winter testing. We’ve
managed to put a lot of mileage on the car, mainly because we haven’t
experienced any reliability issues. The team have done a lot of work on the
car throughout this process and it’s looking quite good, but we will have to
wait to see where everyone really is. I’m really excited about going to
Australia and can’t wait to get there now. Many thanks to everyone at the
factory for all their hard work, and especially thanks to the guys on the
test team.” |