24 February: Valencia Test Report - 21 - 24 February
The
BMW WilliamsF1 Team today completed a four day test at the Valencia circuit, in Spain. Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld split testing
responsibilities, both drivers spending the final test prior to Melbourne fine tuning the set-up of the FW27 and carrying out
systems checks. Despite poor weather hampering the last two days, Webber and Heidfeld covered over 1,400 kilometers between them.
The
conclusion of this week’s test marks the end of an exhaustive winter testing period which has seen the BMW WilliamsF1 Team
complete a total of 25,370 kilometers over 37 days on three different Spanish tracks. Over the winter months, Mark Webber, Nick
Heidfeld and Antonio Pizzonia have all played a part in the development of the new Williams BMW FW27 in preparation for its race
debut in Australia on 6th March.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1) Mark and Nick shared testing duties in
Valencia, with half of the test being held in wet weather conditions. The majority of the test was spent signing off last minute
items in time for Melbourne. Today marked the end of a hard, three month testing period before the first race of 2005. The team
spent a lot of that time checking systems, improving reliability and adding performance to the car. With two new drivers and a new
car for this year, we are all looking forward to the first race in Melbourne next week. The test team have been working extremely
hard, with support from the factory, to do all of the preparation work necessary for the start of the season.
Mario
Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director) We used this week’s test in Valencia to carry out some long runs in order to increase
the mileage on the engine and therefore improve it’s reliability. We also completed some practice starts to improve our starting
procedure. Everything seems to be working well so we are now looking forward to Melbourne.
