Davidson completes Honda testing.

Honda has concluded its preparations for the 2006 Formula One season after Anthony Davidson completed a three-day test session with the RA106 in Spain.

The teams third driver worked through a programme which was focused on final race preparations for the opening round of the year in Bahrain next weekend, along with further Michelin tyre evaluations and work on the latest specification Honda RA806E engine.

Davidson kicked off his test in Valencia on Tuesday and emerged from the opening day of the session with the second quickest time after working on tyre evaluations with Michelin. That programme continued through Wednesday and Thursday and it was the final day that saw the Briton break the unofficial lap record with a best time of 1min 08.544secs.

"It's been another really good test this week and we were able to cover lots of miles every day," Davidson said. "We focused mainly on tyre evaluations but also did some set-up work which found improvements on the aero and mechanical set-up of the car.

"The car feels good and it has been generally fast and well balanced all week. It was great to finish off the long winter testing season by breaking the unofficial lap record today! We're all looking forward to Bahrain now, I think we'll be strong there and I can't wait to get back to driving on Fridays again."

This final pre-season test brings to an end an intensive development programme that started when the RA106 made it debut on track in late January - with the team having completed almost 15000km since then.

"This week brings our winter testing programme ahead of the 2006 season to a very satisfying conclusion," chief vehicle performance engineer Mark Ellis said. "Anthony has driven superbly, completing a huge amount of laps every day at an impressive pace. Since November 2005, we have now completed thirty five days of testing with the RA106 and the Concept car, covering over 27000kms.

"Throughout February we have been able to complete well over 500kms in each car per day. The performance and reliability demonstrated by the RA106 is testament to the skill and effort of everyone at the Honda Racing F1 Team, both in Brackley and Tochigi. The whole team has worked tirelessly to ensure that we are in the best possible shape ahead of the first races of the season."