Renault’s new ‘R27’ racer endured a troubled debut at Jerez on Tuesday.
Not long after the dark-blue and yellow car was recovered to the pits on the back of a truck following a spin by Giancarlo Fisichella, its V8 engine ground to a halt after just 33 laps.
The test was the second time the interim-liveried 2007 car had hit the asphalt, after Nelson Piquet Jr last week presided over a 20km shakedown up and down Silverstone’s Hangar Straight.
The cause of the engine problem “will be analysed and identified by the team this evening,” Renault said at Jerez.
Fisichella’s rookie teammate Heikki Kovalainen will pilot a second R27 on Wednesday.
Despite the spin and breakdown, Italian Fisichella said the new car was “comfortable to drive straight away”.
He added: “So far the car is reacting as we expected, and has the same comfortable feeling as the R25 and R26.”
GMMF1
DailyF1News.com
