Zoom Raikkonen fastest on the Monaco-spec circuit

Testing continued today at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France. Once again all ten teams lapped on a configuration of the circuit which is aimed to replicate the demands of the forthcoming Monaco Grand Prix.

Kimi Raikkonen set the pace today for Ferrari, putting in 102 laps and setting a best lap of 1:05.381s on his 36th tour of the day. The championship leader lapped just over two-tenths faster than Wednesday pace setter Lewis Hamilton.

Heikki Kovalainen took over testing duties at McLaren Mercedes and set the second fastest time today, just under a tenth of a second slower than Raikkonen. Robert Kubica continued with BMW Sauber and set third fastest time half a second off the ultimate pace.

David Coulthard was on duty for Red Bull Renault today, setting the fourth fastest time ahead of Jenson Button who got plenty of mileage in the latest Honda RA108 package. Over at Toro Rosso Ferrari Sebastien Bourdais got another taste of the new STR3 package and thankfully for him and the team there was no repeat of the Barcelona incident that cost the team so much time.

Jarno Trulli set the seventh best time today in his Toyota ahead of Nelson Piquet who putting in a stunning 193 laps over the day in his Renault. Towards the bottom of the timesheets and Kazuki Nakajima ser the ninth best time while the Force India duo of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella shared a car to set the tenth and 11th fastest time respectively.

Testing continues tomorrow at Paul Ricard where the programme – and circuit – will change to help the teams prepare for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Paul Ricard - 15/05/2008
1 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F2008 - 1:05.381 (+ 0.000 ) - 102 laps
2 . H. Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 - 1:05.471 (+ 0.090 ) - 89 laps
3 . R. Kubica - BMW Sauber F1.08 - 1:05.905 (+ 0.524 ) - 135 laps
4 . D. Coulthard - Red Bull Renault RB4 - 1:06.001 (+ 0.620 ) - 82 laps
5 . J. Button - Honda RA108 - 1:06.091 (+ 0.710 ) - 155 laps
6 . S. Bourdais - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR3 - 1:06.125 (+ 0.744 ) - 110 laps
7 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF108 - 1:06.205 (+ 0.824 ) - 120 laps
8 . N. Piquet - Renault R28 - 1:06.355 (+ 0.974 ) - 193 laps
9 . K. Nakajima - Williams Toyota FW30 - 1:07.080 (+ 1.699 ) - 129 laps
10 . A. Sutil - Force India Ferrari VJM01 - 1:07.104 (+ 1.723 ) - 66 laps
11 . G. Fisichella - Force India Ferrari VJM01 - 1:07.123 (+ 1.742 ) - 64 laps.

Earl ALEXANDER
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