Zoom Another soggy day of testing in Spain

The second day of three scheduled this week at Circuit de Catalunya was another damp affair with limited running for most of the 11 drivers present. Despite an off in the morning session, Felipe Massa set the pace for Ferrari with a best lap of 1:30.673s, just two-thousandths of a second quicker than Nico Rosberg managed on Tuesday.

Mark Webber continued to show well in front of the estimated 2000 Spanish fans with the new Red Bull Renault package, recording the second fastest time of the day with a best lap half a second off Massa’s best. The RB4 featured new aerodynamic additions today as well as a new rear diffuser.

Luca Badoer set the third fastest time in his Ferrari F2008 which featured a new rear wing. David Coulthard was fourth fastest in the second RB4.

Fernando Alonso completed just 28 laps today for Renault, recording the fifth fastest time, while Nelson Piquet completed just an installation lap in his R28.

Williams Toyota ran Nico Rosberg, Nico Hulkenberg and Kazuki Nakajima today, the trio classified sixth, ninth and tenth respectively with the Toyota duo of Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli in between. Nakajima spent his programme practicing pit stops with his crew, hence no lap time recorded.

After postponing it track activity on Tuesday due to the unfavourable weather conditions, McLaren Mercedes opted to further delay its scheduled one day test as weather conditions, while marginally improved, were far from ideal.

Testing continues on Thursday.

Barcelona* - 20/02/2008
1 . F. Massa - Ferrari F2008 - 1:30.673 (+ 0.000 ) - 40 laps
2 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB4 - 1:31.213 (+ 0.540 ) - 43 laps
3 . L. Badoer - Ferrari F2008 - 1:31.288 (+ 0.615 ) - 33 laps
4 . D. Coulthard - Red Bull Renault RB4 - 1:31.654 (+ 0.981 ) - 44 laps
5 . F. Alonso - Renault R28 - 1:31.731 (+ 1.058 ) - 28 laps
6 . N. Rosberg - Williams Toyota FW30 - 1:31.963 (+ 1.290 ) - 97 laps
7 . T. Glock - Toyota TF108 - 1:32.407 (+ 1.734 ) - 33 laps
8 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF108 - 1:32.571 (+ 1.898 ) - 47 laps
9 . N. Hulkenberg - Williams Toyota FW30 - 1:33.102 (+ 2.429 ) - 53 laps
10 . K. Nakajima - Williams Toyota FW30 - No Time (+ n/a ) - 33 laps
11 . N. Piquet - Renault R28 - No Time (+ n/a ) - 1 lap.

*Times courtesy of Circuit de Catalunya

Earl ALEXANDER
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