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Marc Gené was
fastest on the opening day of Formula One testing in
Barcelona yesterday, the Spaniard on-track less than twenty
fours after Ferrari announced he would be joining their test
team.
The World
Champions only revealed that they had signed an agreement
with Marc Gené to join Scuderia Ferrari, on Monday, with a
contract that would start immediately in Barcelona, and
include the whole 2005 race season, working as a test
driver, alongside Luca Badoer.
Badoer and Gené
were straight into action on the opening day of a five day
F1 test at Barcelona yesterday, the latter making very
swift debut at the wheel of a Ferrari.
"When I saw
myself dressed in red, I felt it was incredible, but
tomorrow I will drive a Ferrari in Catalonia's Circuit and
it's fantastic", commented Gené
on Monday after the official announcement, concluding
"I have had an intensive afternoon with the new team, making
the seat and meeting all the new members of the team".
This year Gené,
as one of two official Williams-BMW test drivers, was
offered the opportunity to race when he stood in for the
injured Ralf Schumacher at both the French and British
Grands Prix, held at Magny Cours and Silverstone
respectively. |
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Badoer and Gené were straight into action on the
opening day of a five day test at Barcelona
yesterday, the latter making a very swift debut at
the wheel of a Ferrari |
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Marc
Gené was fastest on the opening day of Formula One
testing in Barcelona yesterday, the Spaniard
on-track less than twenty fours after Ferrari
announced he would be joining their test team |
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Unfortunately, his tenth place in
France and twelfth position in Great Britain didn't meet
Williams' expectations and he was replaced by Antonio
Pizzonia until Schumacher returned in China.
The test drivers
worked on a programme centred on tyres and set-up. Badoer
completed a total of 112 laps, with a best time of 1:17.684.
Gene meanwhile, after getting settled into the F2004, ran 68
laps, the quickest in 1:15.665 being the fastest of the day.
Also out at
Barcelona were Toyota and Williams. Jano Trulli split the
two Ferrari runners, while Mark Webber making his first
on-track appearance for his new team, Williams-BMW,
completed a handful of installation laps late in the day,
and didn't set a representative time.
Meanwhile on the Vairano straight, Andrea Bertolini wrapped
up a Scuderia Ferrari aerodynamics programme that started
there on Monday. He covered a total of 440 kilometres
yesterday as the team worked on aerodynamic solutions.
F1 Testing times
from Barcelona, 23.11.2004: 1st Marc Gené (Ferrari)
1:15.665, 2nd Jano Trulli (Toyota) 1:16.476, 3rd Luca Badoer
(Ferrari) 1:17.684, 4th Mark Webber (Williams-BMW) 1:27.952 |
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