Spanish Grand Prix – qualifying

May 13, 2006 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

You may have heard already that Yuji Ide’s superlicence has been revoked, but Super Aguri have said Franck Montagny is only a temporary replacement until they can find another Japanese driver.

JV will be penalised a 10-grid spot penalty after an engine replacement, apparently necessitated after damage in transit from the previous GP!

Air temperature 26°C; track temp 42°C; wind 1.0m/s

Session 1:
RS is the first to post a lap time – 1:20.567
TS 1:20.257
TM 1:18.639
VL 1:17.925
JT 1:17.531
SS 1:17.412
KR 1:16.613
8mins left: DC has spun off and wrecked his Red Bull car in the wall – yellow flags out
~30secs later, red flags out – session suspended
Session restarted
MS is first out of the pits but, with only ~7.5mins left, almost everyone is going to be on track
(MS puts in 1:16.945 for pP2)
FM 1:16.359
FA 1:15.816
Session ended; the bottom six grid spots are: 17=SS, 18=TM, 19=CA, 20=TS, 21=FMo, 22=DC.
Fastest lap: FA 1:15.816
The timing screen resets without any worrying behaviour … unless last week!

Session 2:
JV is first out on track
JV 1:16.349
NR 1:16.069
JT 1:15.564
FA 1:15.124
MS 1:14.637
(JB 1:15.150 for pP3)
5mins left; bottom 6 are CK, NH, NR, JV*, MW & VL – that’s both Williams and both BMS Saubers
*remember JV’s going to get a 10-spot penalty
JM out on new? tyres
RS jumps from pP10 to pP4, moving JM down to the cusp
…and if they’re not currently on a flying lap, it’s too late
MW moves from pP15 to pP9
and then NH takes pP9
Session ended; middle 6 grid spots are: 11=MW, 12=JM, 13=NR, 14=JV, 15=CK, 16=VL.
That’s the first time MW’s failed to make it to the final session; that leaves just JB and FA as the only ones who have been there in every 2006 race.
Fastest lap: MS 1:14.637

Session 3:
FA leads everyone out of the pit lane, as they start a few laps with the aim of burning off fuel.
FA 1:19.038
MS 1:19.000
JB 1:18.952
GF 1:18.663
MS 1:17.986
15mins left
FM 1:17.698
10mins left
8mins left
FA pits, as does FM
JB’s Honda gets a front wing adjustment
5mins left
MS posts the first true flying lap – 1:15.862
FA 1:14.875
GF and FM are both faster than MS
FA pits again … and FM again
3mins left
Everyone’s pitting for a final set of rubber
2 mins left
1 min left
FA 1:14.648, improving his own provisional pole time
TSN’s clueless commentators say that’s his last flying lap … except he can do one more if he needs to
GF still pP2
Chequered flag out
MS can only manage pP3