Bridgestone Motorsport’s exciting new partnerships with the Panasonic Toyota Racing and WilliamsF1 teams started in earnest today as the two teams took to the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain for their first winter test on Bridgestone Potenza Formula One tyres.

The test will focus primarily on matching the cars to the particular characteristics of the Bridgestone tyres and building the foundations of strong technical partnerships with the teams for the future. Toyota will complete a four-day test with their TF106, the first phase of their 2006 race car, while Williams will test their interim FW27C car for three days this week.

Bridgestone Motorsport Test Operations Manager Kaz Hamamura said: “We are very excited about testing this week in Barcelona with Williams and Toyota. It is like a first date really - we are both excited and a little bit nervous, in a good way! The objective this week is to get to know each other. Toyota has a completely new car ready for next year – new chassis, V8 engine and of course tyres. Williams are also running with a V8 engine but in their interim chassis. Initially we will be working with the teams to match the cars to the tyres. Once that work is complete we can then start to evaluate different specifications including some different construction choices.”

Making reference to 2005 GP2 Series Champion Nico Rosberg’s graduation to F1, Hamamura commented: “It is particularly pleasing for me to see Nico Rosberg here who makes the step up from GP2 to F1 with Williams. I am very happy to see him in F1 and his feedback will be invaluable, just as it was in GP2.”

Following this week’s test in Barcelona, Toyota and Williams will join Bridgestone’s two current teams, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and MF1 Racing, at the Spanish circuit of Jerez from December 7.

Hamamura concluded: “We are really looking forward to working with Toyota and Williams alongside Ferrari and Midland. Our aim is to develop the best possible tyres for 2006. All four Bridgestone shod teams will be working closely together over the winter and they will share data to improve the overall speed and development of our tyres.”

Test Dates…
Ferrari has already started its winter programme with tests over the past few weeks at Vallelunga in Italy and the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain. They will conduct a three-day test this week (November 30 – December 2) in Valencia before moving to Jerez on December 7, where they will run for a total of nine days. Toyota and MF1 Racing will each complete eight days of testing in Jerez, finishing on December 15, while Williams will run for seven days, finishing on December 16.

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