By Nick Sparkes
May 12 2006

Overnight rain meant the first practice session of the weekend began in damp conditions with the majority of the runners completing remaining in the pits for the entire session. Thankfully the second session was more entertaining with Toyota completing a huge amount of mileage, Friday – First Session

The damp conditions meant most of the teams only sent their drivers out for one installation lap, meaning the fans who had flocked to the circuit to see their champion and current points leader Fernando Alonso were left disappointed. Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher completed just four laps each, but was enough to put both Ferrari’s at the top of the time sheets. Friday drivers Wurz, Kubica, Davidson, Doornbos, Jani and Mondini completed at lest twenty laps each and finished behind the Ferrari pair. Super Aguri’s Takuma Sato was the busiest race driver in this session, completing only nine laps.

1	F. Massa		Ferrari		1:15.796	4
2	M. Schumacher		Ferrari		1:16.099	4
3	A. Wurz		Williams		1:16.125	21
4	R. Kubica		BMW		1:16.628	21
5	A. Davidson		Honda		1:16.961	24
6	R. Doornbos		Red Bull		1:17.424	20
7	N. Jan		Scuderia Toro Rosso		1:19.720	20
8	G. Mondini		Midland F1		1:20.708	21
9	T. Sato		Super Aguri		1:20.744	9
10	F. Montagny		Super Aguri		no time	3
11	S. Speed		Scuderia Toro Rosso		no time	3
12	M. Webber		Williams		no time	1
13	J. Trulli		Toyota		no time	1
14	C. Albers		Midland F1		no time	1
15	N. Rosberg		Williams		no time	1
16	T. Monteiro		Midland F1		no time	1
17	R. Schumacher		Toyota		no time	1
18	J. Button		Honda		no time	1
19	V. Liuzzi		Scuderia Toro Rosso		no time	1
20	N. Heidfeld		BMW		no time	1
21	JP. Montoya		McLaren		no time	1
22	J. Villeneuve		BMW		no time	2
23	D. Coulthard		Red Bull		no time	1
24	C. Klien		Red Bull		no time	1
25	R. Barrichello		Honda		no time	1
26	F. Alonso		Renault		no time	2
27	G. Fisichella		Renault		no time	2
28	K. Räikkönen		McLaren		no time

Friday – Second Session

With the track now dry, many of the runners started their Friday programme. Anthony Davidson was fastest for Honda, completing the most laps of any driver, thirty-eight in his non-restricted V8 Honda. Robert Doornbos who is rumoured to be replacing Christian Klien at the next race after a boost in sponsorship finished his day in second for Red Bull, an impressive performance. Fernando Alonso pleased his home crowd by coming in third, the highest race driver of the second session. The Toyota pairing of Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were an encouraging tenth and eleventh, just over a second behind the flying Honda of Davidson. Combined, the Toyota’s completed fifty-five laps and have gathered a lot of data for the team to analyse overnight. There were no major incidents during either session, with the majority of the drivers sticking to the black stuff.

1	A. Davidson		Honda		1:16.533	38
2	R. Doornbos		Red Bull		1:16.824	29
3	F. Alonso		Renault		1:16.860	16
4	A. Wurz		Williams		1:17.075	30
5	C. Klien		Red Bull		1:17.086	10
6	M. Schumacher		Ferrari		1:17.100	21
7	G. Fisichella		Renault		1:17.291	17
8	J. Button		Honda		1:17.414	12
9	R. Barrichello		Honda		1:17.417	16
10	R. Schumacher		Toyota		1:17.506	25
11	J. Trulli		Toyota		1:17.610	30
12	N. Heidfeld		BMW		1:17.622	18
13	R. Kubica		BMW		1:17.844	34
14	M. Webber		Williams		1:17.908	14
15	K. Räikkönen		McLaren		1:17.933	4
16	J. Villeneuve		BMW		1:18.007	13
17	F. Massa		Ferrari		1:18.223	19
18	JP. Montoya		McLaren		1:18.261	5
19	N. Rosberg		Williams		1:18.283	18
20	D. Coulthard		Red Bull		1:18.410	6
21	N. Jani		Scuderia Toro Rosso		1:18.774	32
22	G. Mondini		Midland F1		1:18.910	22
23	S. Speed		Scuderia Toro Rosso		1:19.257	22
24	V. Liuzzi		Scuderia Toro Rosso		1:19.334	18
25	C. Albers		Midland F1		1:19.358	15
26	T. Sato		Super Aguri		1:19.616	30
27	T. Monteiro		Midland F1		1:20.311	19
28	F. Montagny		Super Aguri		1:22.222	21