Barcelona test - day two: 12 April.

Renault third driver, Heikki Kovalainen set the pace at the Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday, as F1 testing moved into its second day at the Spanish circuit, with more than double the amount of drivers on track compared to day one.

Kovalainen was the only driver to break the 1min 15sec bracket, his best a 1m 14.955 seconds, around two tenths up on Rubens Barrichello, who was 'best of the rest' for Honda. The Finn completed 144 laps, the most of anyone runner, while working on set-up with the R26 and Michelin tyre development. This was in spite of a number of red flags and nine stoppages in total.

Reigning world champion, Fernando Alonso was also on track for the regie, running a similar programme, third overall in the sister car, despite electronic problems that restricted his running to less that 50 tours. As conditions were close to what is expected at the Spanish Grand Prix in four weeks time a lot of attention was paid toward analysing the behaviour of the R26/RS26 package for that event on May 14. Indeed most teams were conducting work with that event in mind.

"We made good progress today with Heikki's car," said Renault chief test engineer, Christian Silk. "He adapted to the car and circuit quickly morning, which was important as he had not tested here for quite a while. We confirmed the set-up improvements we had found in previous tests, and he got through a lot of tyre work. Fernando was also very productive in the laps he was able to run. Electrical problems limited his running, but we nevertheless had a positive day overall."

Honda were the team closest to the Renault's - second and fourth on the timesheets, thanks to Barrichello and test driver, Anthony Davidson, the former two tenths up on his team-mate. Both drivers managed over 100 laps in the RA106.

Ricardo Zonta completed the top five for Toyota, while working on items such as aerodynamics, tyre construction and electronics. The Brazilian, who was testing at Paul Ricard last week, feels that the team is making good progress.

"It was a very good day in general. We worked on short runs, concentrating on tyre testing and aerodynamics," he explained. "This is the first time that I have driven the 'new' car in Barcelona, since it was released in Vallelunga. It was very difficult with so many drivers on the track to get a clean lap, but in the end, we had a good time and were happy with the results. The car is showing potential and we still have a lot to do, but we are definitely moving ahead well."

Panis was also out and about in the second TF106 and despite being over a second slower, was satisfied with his work.

"We worked on some electronics and had planned to work on some tyre testing, but due to some red flag delays during the day and we did not finish every item we wanted to get through," said the Frenchman. "However, the team worked hard and we did our best to put in 71 laps. At the end of the day I can say that I am still adapting to the car and the tyres. I am working on getting a good feeling for the balance to be able to give useful feedback. We can see from Ricardo that the car drives well and can be quick, but it is just a matter for me to carry on the tests and prepare the car for the next races. With each test, there is progress and I am confident everything is coming along."

Further down the order, David Coulthard was sixth for Red Bull Racing, less than a hundredth up on Mark Webber's Williams-Cosworth, while Christian Klien was eighth in the second Ferrari powered RB2. Webber did 78 laps in total, while Nico Rosberg managed 54 tours and was three tenths slower, 13th overall, in the other FW28.

"Nico continued testing today and was joined by Mark in good conditions at Barcelona," said Williams test team manager, Mike Condliffe. "We had a very varied programme testing some new mechanical parts for reliability and performance, as well as some more aero parts. Mark continued the afternoon session with the tyre evaluation test series that we started yesterday."

Pedro de la Rosa was ninth for McLaren, as he resumed his programme from last week at Paul Ricard, which focused on set-up. The Spaniard did 74 laps, his best a 1m 15.781s, despite having to finish his running two hours early due to an engine failure. He was joined on track by team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who was also out in an MP4-21. The Finn though did just 31 laps as he was using the spare car from the Australian GP, which had to be rebuilt in Woking prior to travelling to the test. By the time the car arrived and was prepared, he couldn't get out until after lunch and therefore languished in 13th place overall.

Of the rest Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Marc Gene were only tenth and 16th quickest, the latter, who set the pace on Wednesday, was once again doing endurance running as well as testing Bridgestone tyres. Massa also did some tyre work in the second 248 F1, in addition to focusing on aerodynamics and set-up.

BMW Sauber duo, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica came in eleventh and 14th. For Heidfeld part of the day was spent working on brake packages and for Kubica set-up work. However, they both worked on aero testing and also tyre testing for Michelin between them managing around 170 odd laps.

The only other runners on track were Scuderia Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Luizzi and Super Aguri team leader, Takuma Sato, the former enjoying good reliability while completing 107 laps, his best a 1m 16.389s.

"We are happy with today's work and Tonio did a good job of driving consistently," commented STR chief engineer, Laurent Mekies. "With this being the final test at this track before the Spanish Grand Prix, we worked on set-up for that race and Tonio also did a brake system comparison and he was able to run on tyres very similar to those we will use in Imola at the next race."

Sato was the slowest of the runners, over 5 seconds off the pace in the modified Arrows car, on a 1m 19s lap.

"This is our first full test programme running the SA05, so we are happy that Taku had reliable start and that we were able to cover the majority of our planned set-up changes," said Super Aguri chief race engineer, Graham Taylor. "The team is very satisfied with the content and results from today which have provided a number of avenues for us to investigate in pursuit of car balance."

F1 testing will now continue in Barcelona on Thursday, however, there will be a number of changes on the driver front - most noticeably with Michael Schumacher taking over from Gene, Giancarlo Fisichella taking over from Kovalainen, Juan Montoya replacing de la Rosa and Jacques Villeneuve taking over the BMW Sauber F1.06 of Kubica. At Toyota test duo, Zonta and Panis will also make way for race drivers, Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher.

Leading times (12 April) - Barcelona:

1. Heikki Kovalainen Renault-Renault 1min 14.955secs 144 laps M
2. Rubens Barrichello Honda-Honda 1min 15.135secs 107 laps M
3. Fernando Alonso Renault-Renault 1min 15.251secs 45 laps M
4. Anthony Davidson Honda-Honda 1min 15.354secs 114 laps M
5. Ricardo Zonta Toyota-Toyota 1min 15.426secs 88 laps B
6. David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari 1min 15.671secs 97 laps M
7. Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1min 15.683secs 78 laps B
8. Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari 1min 15.747secs 84 laps M
9. Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1min 15.781secs 74 laps M
10. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 15.860secs 97 laps B
11. Nick Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1min 15.917secs 75 laps M
12. Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1min 15.955secs 54 laps B
13. Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes 1min 15.957secs 31 laps M
14. Robert Kubica BMW-Sauber 1min 15.974secs 93 laps M
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1min 16.389secs 107 laps M *
16. Marc Gene Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 16.446secs 115 laps B
17. Olivier Panis Toyota-Toyota 1min 16.812secs 71 laps B
18. Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1min 19.328secs 76 laps B

[M denotes Michelin tyres / B denotes Bridgestone tyres / * denotes V10 engine.]

Track conditions: Sunny, bright and dry.

All times unofficial - courtesy of official Circuit de Catalunya website.

Comparative lap times:

Spanish GP 2005:

Fastest lap: Giancarlo Fisichella Renault-Renault 1min 15.641secs