Wurz Scorches Silverstone Test

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WURZ SCORCHES SILVERSTONE TEST

ITV

Alexander Wurz set the fastest time on the first day of testing at Silverstone as McLaren once again out-paced Renault.

But the world championship leaders showed evidence that they are closing the gap to their rivals as Fernando Alonso lapped just a tenth slower than the Austrian.

Renault intends to run both Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella this week as it strives to make its revised aero and engine mods reliable in time for Brazil.

Ricardo Zonta reflected Toyota's excellent Spa form with the third fastest time, albeit a second slower than the championship challengers.

Heikki Kovalainen, who suffered a setback in his GP2 title challenge with a spin at Spa last weekend, resumed testing duties for Renault.

But the Finn was hampered by two mechanical problems on his way to fourth.

Vitantonio Liuzzi got revenge on Red Bull team-mate Christian Klien after the Austrian got the call-up for the rest of the season (see separate story here), by going four tenths faster.

Anthony Davidson's anticipated Jordan test began badly with a Toyota engine failure which cost him the entire morning session.

The young British hope did manage 56 laps in the afternoon and recorded a time less than two seconds slower than Klien, despite reportedly having trouble fitting in the car properly.

Olivier Panis was tasked to work on Toyota's 105B chassis while Pedro de la Rosa gave the prototype Mercedes V8 engine its first public run in the back of a hybrid McLaren MP4-20.

The German unit propelled the Spaniard round more than seven seconds off the pace, but completed an encouraging 37 laps in total.

Testing times from Silverstone on Tuesday

1. WURZ McLaren 1m17.101s

2. ALONSO Renault 1m17.112s

3. ZONTA Toyota 1m18.140s

4. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m18.701s

5. LIUZZI Red Bull 1m18.871s

6. KLIEN Red Bull 1m19.911s

7. DAVIDSON Jordan 1m21.011s

8. PANIS Toyota 1m21.600s

9. DE LA ROSA McLaren 1m24.481s