On Wednesday the BMW WilliamsF1 Team will begin a three day test program at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France with four drivers on hand for testing duties.

After the obvious improvements made in time for the second race of the season in Malaysia, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team lies in second position in the Constructors' Championship with 17 points. Ferrari, however, still appear to be a step ahead.

The whole team is dedicated to closing that gap. Marc Gené, the official test and reserve driver of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, is confident, "I think the BMW WilliamsF1 Team is one of the best teams at developing cars throughout the year, so if we start with a good car and we develop it, we should really be aiming to win," he said. "We launched the car early in order to avoid the problems we had last year, and winter testing has gone well. We have done more testing this year than at any time since I joined the team, and I am happy with the car's reliability."

The Paul Ricard Circuit in Le Castellet offers the BMW WilliamsF1 Team perfect testing conditions for its preparations for the forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix. On the high-tech circuit, 40 different circuit layouts can be simulated, while the track watering system allows the test team to simulate wet conditions at any chosen moment.

In addition to Marc, Ralf Schumacher, the team’s second test driver, Antonio Pizzonia, and Scott Dixon from the Indy Racing League will be on duty in Le Castellet this week. Marc and Antonio will run a WiliamsF1 BMW FW26 on Wednesday, Antonio and Ralf will be testing on Thursday, with Ralf and reigning IRL Champion, Scott Dixon, finishing off on Friday. Dixon is on loan from the Target Chip Ganassi Team, after finishing second in last Sunday's race in Phoenix.

After the tests at Le Castellet, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team travels to Bahrain looking forward to transforming the test results into good results in the third race of the season.

BMW WilliamsF1 Team

Feedback can be sent to feedback@autoracing1.com

Go to our forums to discuss this article