Silverstone Day 2: Kovalainen on top

McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen headed Toyota’s Jarno Trulli in the timesheets on Wednesday, as this week’s three-day test session continued. In windy conditions, Kovalainen’s best lap of 1m 20.015s put him almost four-tenths clear of the Italian.

Force India's test day was cut short following a heavy crash for Giancarlo Fisichella just before the lunchtime break.

With high, gusty winds producing inconsistent car handling, the Italian was caught out at Becketts, one of the fastest corners of the circuit, and went into the barriers. His VJM01 suffered extensive damage and could not be repaired in time to run again.

Giancarlo was uninjured in the accident, however was taken to hospital for precautionary checks. "It's a real shame we couldn't do more running in the afternoon as this morning it was all looking quite good," said Fisichella. "The car felt quicker even though the balance was not so good because of the high winds. Unfortunately I just got caught out by a change in grip and balance going through Becketts and went off the track and hit the barriers. I wasn't hurt at all, but I did not take my hands off the wheel and they had to do some checks to make sure my wrist was OK."

Jarno Trulli
"Today's main focus was preparation for the British Grand Prix and it was a good day. We managed to do a lot of laps and we learned several useful things. It all went smoothly and we ran without any real issues. There was a lot of gusting wind out there today, which can make direct comparisons difficult. Still, we made some progress with our set-up and aerodynamics program. We are obviously looking to build on our result at last Sunday's French Grand Prix. Now I hope we will be in good shape for another strong race here next week."

Testing continues tomorrow. Sebastien Bourdais Vettel in the Toro Rosso for tomorrow's final day of the Silverstone test.

More to follow…..

Unofficial Wednesday times from Silverstone:
1. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 1:20.015
2. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 1:20.391
3. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:20.624
4. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 1:20.787
5. Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1:20.795
6. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 1:20.982
7. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:21.069
8. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:21.170
9. Jenson Button, Honda, 1:21.445
10. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 1:21.583