Barcelona Test Day Two: Red Bull & Toro Rosso Top Tables

Day two of testing at Spain’s Circuit di Catalunya wrapped up earlier as the sun set beneath the horizon. In an almost repeat of yesterday, the Scuderia Toro Rossos showed good pace in comparison, but comparing a slightly modified 2008 car to a 2009-simulated machine is a little like comparing apples to eggs. Sebastian Vettel topped the tables though in his RB4, lapping the circuit 0.3s faster than Takuma Sato.

With Scuderia Toro Rosso still undecided on its 2009 driver lineup, the test sessions yesterday, today and tomorrow will allow the team to evaulate their options; Takuma Sato, Sebastien Buemi and Sebastien Bourdais. Their final option – Rubens Barrichello – is still under contract to Honda. And once again it was former Jordan and Honda driver Sato who lead the others, outpacing Sebastien Bourdais by 0.021s, who in turn wasahead of Sebastien Buemi by 0.2s.

I have really enjoyed the test and it was great to be back in the car. The last test in September was a little disappointing, because I could do only 3 hours, as it rained in the afternoon. But this test has been great – I have now done my first full day’s driving in 7 months and completed a total of 200 laps. The car has worked really well and felt great to drive. Takuma Sato.

McLaren only fielded one driver today as regular tester Pedro De La Rosa was sent off to Force India to steal more Ferrari secrets before the engines get tossed in the bin put in some mileage before the integration of their systems takes place. So Gary Paffett was the only driver out for the Woking-team, and the Briton ran both the regular MP4-23 and the modified MP4-23K, running the proposed 2009 KERS system. The change from the MP4-23K to the regular car came after a minor oil leak lead the squad to swap the cars as a precautionary measure.

Robert Kubica continued to evaluate the 2009-spec. BMW while Jenson Button was sent out in the Honda along with Lucas Di Grassi, the Brazilian being evaluated himself for the 2009 race-seat. Nico Rosberg drove the Williams all afternoon while Ferrari fielded both their test drivers once again. Luca Badoer completed the most laps of the day, touring the Circuit di Catalunya a tota of 127 times.

We got rid of as many things as possible, to try to create the downforce we’ll have the next season. But the main thing is the slicks. I couldn’t directly compare them, but the first feeling is that the grip delivered by the new tyres compensates the lower downforce.

Personally I’m working with the car’s set-up, trying to understand the handling with the new tyres. Luca is working on the reliability, especially of the engine, because in the next season it has to live 50% longer. Marc Gene.

Barcelona Test Day Two Results Table		Lap Time Fastest Time Set	Laps Set Number Laps Set
1.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m19.751s	70 Laps
2.	Takuma Sato Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m20.017s	79 Laps
3.	Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m20.034s	48 Laps
4.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m20.223s	99 Laps
5.	Gary Paffett McLaren	1m21.340s	31 Laps
6.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m21.521s	76 Laps
7.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m21.525s	113 Laps
8.	Jenson Button Honda	1m21.770s	110 Laps
9.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m22.073s	58 Laps
10.	Lucas Di Grassi Honda	1m22.283s	110 Laps
11.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	1m22.348s	85 Laps
12.	Luca Badoer Ferrari	1m22.425s	127 Laps
13.	Marc Gene Ferrari	1m22.772s	31 Laps
14.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m22.945s	81 Laps
15.	Giedo Van Der Garde Renault	1m23.250s	37 Laps
16.	Pedro De La Rosa Force India	1m23.499s	86 Laps