The BMW WilliamsF1 Team completed a three day test at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in southern Spain today. Official test driver, Antonio Pizzonia, was scheduled to test for the three days but was sidelined due to an ankle injury sustained while in China. Consequently, Olivier Beretta, who drove for the French Larrousse team in 1994 and who has intermittently tested for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team since 2002, was brought in to partner Marc Gené for the first day of the test. Ralf Schumacher subsequently replaced Olivier for the remaining two days.

Ralf, Marc and Olivier completed a combined total of 482 laps of the Jerez circuit, a distance of 2,134 kilometers over the three day period. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team will return to the test track on 12th October at Jerez.

WilliamsF1 Test Team Manager Tim Newton:

"Under clear Spanish skies, the team has spent the last three days concentrating on set-up work and tyre evaluations in preparation for the last two races of the season. Ralf spent most of his laps working on tyre testing but he also carried out some practice starts and pit stops. Marc also put in a lot of time with Michelin but concentrating mainly on development work. He also concentrated on systems checks. All in all, we’ve had a very productive test which we hope will stand us in good stead for Suzuka and Brazil."

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen:

"We had a very good test. We covered a lot of mileage and we managed to rectify the problem we experienced with our starts in the last race. Furthermore, we made some progress with the traction control system and the engine."

POS. DRIVER TEAM TIME LAPS

1. M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:15.614 7/87
2. A. Wurz West McLaren Mercedes 1:16.444 13/114
3. R. Schumacher BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:16.447 15/103
4. A. Davidson Lucky Strike BAR. Honda 1:16.531 12/126
5. F. Montagny Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:16.627 23/88
6. J. Trulli Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:16.650 12/111
7. M. Gené BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:16.892 13/96
8. E. Bernoldi Lucky Strike BAR. Honda 1:17.176 8/104
9. P. de la Rosa West McLaren Mercedes 1:17.257 7/55
10. H. Kovalainen Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:17.358 36/95