tested last week in addition to the new arrivals originally scheduled for this week. Naturally, this does leave us with a lot to do in the next few days but we plan to use the time in an efficient manner and should be able to complete the programmes.”

He continued: “Last week, however, was by no means a wasted opportunity. We tried several new constructions and compounds for our wet tyres and the natural rain conditions, as opposed to artificially wetting a test track, enabled us to gain some excellent data. We found some very positive results in both development areas and have a clear picture of our next phase of wet tyre development.”