Spanish GP Preview



Formula One Circus will make its next stop at the Spanish Grand Prix, which is being held at the Circuit de Catalunya for the 16th time. This year’s Spanish GP will see Spanish World Champion on the grid in form of Alonso. The organizers have built additional grandstands this year, and ticket sales report indicate full house audience to cheer home hero
Catalunya circuit has been happy hunting ground for Schumacher and his Ferrari team, but their winning streak here was broken by Finn Kimi Räikkönen who had won the race from pole last year.
In many ways Circuit de Catalunya wouldn’t throw many surprises to the team and the drivers as this is favored testing venue of all teams and as drivers know the track very well, it is likely to be a tight race.
With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. However it has very little elevation change and few exciting corners. Overtaking is rare,the Circuit is always a bit tricky due to the wind, which makes it hard to find the right aerodynamic set-up. The circuit was resurfaced prior to 2005 season, with several long, high-speed corners tyre choice is also another difficult matter.

Trivia

• In the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix Mika Häkkinen suffered a clutch failure while leading the race on the last lap, handing the win to Schumacher.


• In the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix Michael Schumacher managed to finish in second place despite driving over half the race with only fourth gear.
  
• A milestone will be reached for David Coulthard this coming weekend when the Rec Bull racer clocks up his 200th Grand Prix start as the teams contest the sixth round of the 2006 season here at the Barcelona circuit.Incidentally his 1st start was at the same venue in 1994 when Williams introduced him as replacement of Late Ayrton Senna who died in Imola 94 raceCongratulations David!!.

2005 Qualifying results

1. K Räikkönen Mclaren 1:14.819
2. M Webber Williams
3. F Alonso Renault
4. R Schumacher Toyota

Previous Winners

1. K. Räikkönen (Mclaren Mercedes, 2005).
2. M. Schumacher (Ferrari, 2004).
3. M. Schumacher (Ferrari, 2003).
4. M. Schumacher (Ferrari, 2002).
5. M. Schumacher (Ferrari, 2001).

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