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Fuji Practice2: preparing set up before rain comes
By BMW Sauber F1 Team October 10 2008
In the second practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, the BMW Sauber F1 Team pairing, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld, completed a massive programme as they continued their preparations for qualifying and the race. Robert secured 11th position on the time sheets while Nick finished 19th.
The second practice session for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix was held under overcast skies, with the temperatures (21° C) slightly lower than in the morning. As rain has been forecast for Saturday, everybody - including the BMW Sauber F1 Team - completed massive programmes in order to carry out as much preparation work as possible today.

Robert experienced another trouble-free session and completed a total of 39 laps. As usual, the Munich and Hinwil based squad didn't aim for lap times but instead focused on continuing the set-up work and tyre evaluations. Robert set his personal fastest lap time of 1:18.865 minutes as early as on his 13th lap. At this point in time, he held fifth position but over the course of the session he dropped back to 11th.

With 37 laps under his belt, Nick also covered an impressive mileage. In the closing stages of the session, however, the German encountered a hydraulics problem and consequently was unable to complete his scheduled programme. In the end, the German had to settle for finishing 19th, with his personal fastest lap time of 1:19.894 minutes.

Should the weather forecasters have got it right and rain does fall on Saturday, the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers will use the third free practice session, held from 11:00hrs local time (03:00hrs BST), to find a good set-up for wet conditions. Should it remain dry, they will continue to work on improving the BMW Sauber F1's dry-weather set-up for the race on Sunday.

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