Sakhir Day 1 – Klien takes over for BMW

On this Monday, February 16, Christian Klien for BMW-Sauber set the tone in Bahrain for this 5th day of testing at the Sakhir circuit, the first of this week after a break this weekend.

The BMW-Sauber test driver posted a best time of 1:32.544. He had a very productive session, trying to make up for the time lost last week due to bad weather, particularly with that sandstorm.

« Today’s day was very productive, » declared Klien. « We collected a lot of data and I even managed to do a long run at the end of the session. Once again, we did not encounter any technical issues, which is very encouraging. »

Kimi Räikkönen was the second fastest driver with Ferrari. The Finn focused his work on evaluating different set-ups and comparing different types of Bridgestone tires on the F60.

For Toyota, Jarno Trulli was the most active on track, covering a distance greater than two Grand Prix distances at the wheel of the TF109. The Italian focused on mechanical and aerodynamic setups, in addition to a tire comparison.

« Today we covered a number of kilometers greater than two races. In fact, I think it’s my best performance in terms of mileage on a test day, » said Trulli.

« So, I would say it was a positive and productive day. There were many elements to test on a full program. We made good progress and were consistently competitive throughout the day. It’s a good start to the second week. »

Results Private Tests Bahrain – Sakhir – Monday, February 16, 2009: