Kobayashi Goes Quickest

Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi was quickest on day two of the latest Formula One group test at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

With the 10 teams present able to enjoy plenty of running after the rain which fell on Wednesday, the Japanese driver topped the timesheets with a time of one minute 19.950 seconds around the 2.751-mile circuit.

Kobayashi was one of five drivers to rack up over 100 laps and set his time late in the day to beat long-time pacesetter Sebastien Buemi.

Buemi was less than a tenth off Kobayashi's pace after completing 121 laps in his Toro Rosso.

Jenson Button was third quickest as he continued to familiarise himself with his new McLaren, the World Champion half a second off the pace after spending the day working on aerodynamic mapping and variable fuel-load runs.

Button did slow to a halt on the circuit when a warning light came on towards the end of the session but the team later confirmed it had just been a precautionary measure.

Williams rookie Nico Hulkenberg suffered a hydraulic leak early on but the German ended the day fourth quickest ahead of Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi.

"Today was quite a difficult day as we had some technical problems, but I'm still feeling positive about the car," said Hulkenberg.

"Of course, I would like to have had more running time, but that's sometimes the way it goes. Overall, it's been a good two days and the car feels good."
Schumacher sixth

Michael Schumacher is more than 18 years older than his countryman but the seven-times World Champion had no problems putting in a total of 124 laps, setting the sixth quickest time.

"I managed to complete a lot of laps which is very precious to me," the 41-year-old said.

"A new car, a new team and new conditions, therefore our first goal has to be to make the car reliable.

"Days like today help massively in that respect."

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was down in seventh after concentrating on longer runs, while Robert Kubica's Renault was eighth and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber ninth.

Meanwhile, Virgin Racing's Timo Glock brought up the rear for the second day running after the team were forced to halt their participation after just 11 laps owing to a lack of spare parts.

The front wing of the new VR-01 failed while Glock was putting the car through its paces and, with no replacement to hand, the team could not continue.

With the replacement parts expected to arrive in southwest Spain on Thursday evening, Brazilian rookie Lucas di Grassi will take over from Glock on Friday.

Times:

1 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber 1m19.950 103 laps
2 Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m20.026 121
3 Jenson Button McLaren Mercedes 1m20.618 83
4 Nico Hulkenberg Williams 1m20.629 67
5 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India F1 1m20.754 80
6 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1m21.083 124
7 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m21.424 129
8 Robert Kubica Renault 1m22.003 103
9 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m22.043 99
10 Timo Glock Virgin Racing 1m29.964 11