Today marked the first day of the final pre-season test for Minardi
Cosworth, the Faenza team running the second of its PS04B race chassis at
the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on Wednesday in company with four other
Formula One teams. Gianmaria Bruni carried out the driving duties, as
Minardi engineers worked through a technical programme that included
aerodynamic tests, chassis set-up evaluation, further engine development on
the Cosworth CR3L V10, and tyre assessment for Bridgestone.

The team also
took the opportunity to conduct a longer, race simulation run and practice
its pit-stop drill during the afternoon session. Minardi Cosworth will
continue testing for a second, and final, day tomorrow, when Zsolt
Baumgartner is scheduled to drive.

Gianmaria Bruni:

"I'm satisfied with the work we carried out today. We tried a number of
different chassis set-ups, some of which turned out to be better than
others, but that is what testing is all about. Towards the end of the day,
we did a long run, and arrived at what we feel is a suitable set-up for
Melbourne. I'm also very pleased we had a chance to assess the latest
Bridgestone tyre compounds that will be used in Australia. We did some
really useful testing with these today."

Andy Tilley, Senior Engineer:

"We have had a constructive session here at Imola. We spent the first part
of the day working on mechanical settings, and concluded this afternoon with
a long run to look at tyre degradation. It was also pleasing that the car
and engine ran with complete reliability during the course of the 67 laps we
covered today. I think it's fair to say the team's preparations for
Australia are progressing well."

Paul Stoddart, Team Principal:

"Another very productive day of testing for Minardi Cosworth saw Gimmi
complete his full programme without any problems. In doing so, he also
recorded a respectable fastest lap of 1 min 23.999 secs. It's promising this
was less than a second off the time Heidfeld set in the Jordan, although we
recognise there is still room to improve our performance. We look forward to
another successful day of testing at Imola tomorrow."

Gianmaria Bruni
Chassis allocation: PS04B/02
Laps completed: 67/330.5 kms
Fastest lap: 1 min 23.999 secs

-minardi-


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