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De la Rosa happy with latest tyre test

Pedro de la Rosa leaves the garage on fresh Pirelli tyres © Pirelli

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Pedro de la Rosa has completed over 1000 kilometres of Pirelli tyre testing at the Paul Ricard circuit this week and is happy with the performance of the 2011 tyre.

He completed 315 laps over two days in the cockpit of the 2009 Toyota F1 car. Damp conditions allowed the ex-Sauber driver to complete both wet and dry tyre testing as Pirelli's total testing mileage past the 7000-kilometre mark by the end of the second day.

"These have been two of the most productive days of testing that we have seen yet, and I'm particularly encouraged by the consistency of the times that we managed to set on both the short and the long runs, demonstrating that the tyres are quick to reach a constant level of peak performance," de la Rosa said. "There were a number of interesting solutions that we have started to investigate in depth. We enjoyed perfect reliability from the car and the tyres, which allowed us to cover more than a thousand kilometres and take some important steps forward in the development programme."

De la Rosa used both hard and soft compounds over the two day test, focusing on tyre construction over short runs of seven laps and long runs of 20.

"Once more, Pedro's knowledge and feedback has given us some valuable information to finalise the second compound that we will bring to Abu Dhabi, as we finish our testing in Europe this month," Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery said. "Next week's test at Paul Ricard will enable us to complete our test programme on wet and intermediate tyres, taking advantage of the facilities available there."

Pirelli and de la Rosa will complete another two-day test at Paul Ricard next week before heading to Abu Dhabi where the F1 teams will get their first opportunity to use the new rubber.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.