By Renault F1
December 8 2005

The Renault F1 Team completed a productive opening day’s work in Jerez, with Franck Montagny topping the times. 2006 3rd driver Finn Heikki Kovalinen was also testing for the Renault F1 team and he managed a 1'19.800 to place him second on the board

The Renault F1 Team completed a busy, productive day of testing in Jerez today, running two R25 chassis with restricted V10 engines for Franck Montagny and Heikki Kovalainen. Montagny topped the times after a tyre testing programme, while Kovalainen was third fastest.

Franck completed a morning of set-up work, developing his work from Barcelona and continuing to make good progress on understanding chassis performance with V8 power. Subsequently, his work focused on tyre testing for Michelin and some brake testing.

Heikki’s first test of the winter saw him acclimatize himself to the simulated V8 power levels, prior to beginning working on set-ups. After this, he completed a suspension development programme.

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “We had a very good day’s testing, completing more work than we had initially planned for and making good progress with our programmes for the week. Heikki began understanding the demands of running with V8 power, while Franck continued strongly with the programmes he began last week in Barcelona.”



DRIVER TEAM BEST LAPS

1 Montagny Renault 1'19.453 103

2 Gene Ferrari 1'19.681 84

3 Kovalainen Renault 1'19.800 119

4 Davidson Honda 1'20.137 107

5 Karthikeyan Williams 1'20.277 50

6 De La Rosa McLaren 1'20.379 103

7 Schumacher Toyota 1'20.440 66

8 Klien Red Bull 1'20.582 70

9 Rosberg Williams 1'20.638 71

10 Badoer Ferrari 1'20.83 39

11 Rossiter Honda 1'20.995 83

12 Briscoe Toyota 1'21.220 76

13 Paffett McLaren 1'21.244 67

14 Biagi Midland 1'21.856 88

15 Albers Midland 1'23.199 56