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Enthusiast Groups => Motorsports => Formula One => Topic started by: fasteddy on January 15, 2008, 05:22:44 PM
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By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, January 15th 2008, 16:26 GMT
Former world champion Fernando Alonso made a perfect start to his return to Renault on Tuesday when he topped the times in testing at Jerez.
The Spaniard was having the first experience of last year's R27 and, after spending the early part of the day finding the limits of the car, he set his best lap of 1:19.503 late in the afternoon as he did two quick runs.
Alonso's best effort was just more than one tenth ahead of McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa in the new McLaren MP4-23, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen just five hundredths further adrift in the F2008.
Williams' Nico Rosberg continued to show some impressive speed in the interim FW29, setting the fourth fastest time, just ahead of Felipe Massa and Heikki Kovalainen.
Scuderia Toro Rosso duo Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais were seventh and eighth quickest, with Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber ninth fastest ahead of the launch of his new RB4 tomorrow.
Timo Glock got his first run in the new Toyota, finishing the day 11th overall, while the team's test driver Kamui Kobayashi used a hybrid 2007 car featuring the 2008 electronics and gearbox. The Japanese driver lost time in the morning with an exhaust issue, before rejoining for the afternoon.
Super Aguri's James Rossiter had to sit out the day following delays in the arrival of new parts to overcome the overheating problems that marred their first day.
There were three red flags during the day. De la Rosa went off in a huge cloud of smoke at 9.02am, while Williams' Kazuki Nakajima ran off the track at 12.30pm.
The final stoppage came just two minutes before the scheduled end of the day when Bourdais stopped on track.
Today's testing times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Alonso Renault (B) 1:19.503 70
2. De la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:19.650 111*
3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:19.708 90*
4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:19.756 81
5. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:19.772 85*
6. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:19.780 130*
7. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:20.305 86
8. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:20.346 76
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:20.392 80
10. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:20.526 66
11. Glock Toyota (B) 1:20.598 109*
12. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:20.764 76
13. Kobayashi Toyota (B) 1:22.060 55
* 2008 car
All timing unofficial