London and New York 3rd April 2006

In a now characteristic display of cool driving, Fernando Alonso took his tenth career victory in the Australian Grand Prix. Starting from third position on the grid, the Spaniard dominated an action-packed race that featured no fewer than four safety car periods. After taking the lead on lap 4 in a perfectly-judged maneuver on Jenson Button's Honda, the 24 year old World Champion only relinquished it during the first round of pit-stops, eventually piloting his R26 to the Renault F1 Team’s third consecutive victory.

“The car was perfect,” beamed the victorious Alonso, “there wasn't any risk of losing victory at any time”

Alonso’s winning RS26 engine, and R26 chassis were designed with the extensive aid of STAR-CD, CD-adapco's world leading Computational Fluid Dynamics software. CD-adapco have been suppliers of advanced CAE software to the Renault F1 Team since its inception in 2001. STAR-CD is the most successful CFD code in Formula 1; almost 75% of the points won during the 2005 season were awarded to drivers of cars that were designed with the software.

Renault F1 Team Technical Director (Engine Department) Jon Hilton, had this to say:

“The Renault F1 Team demonstrate the pinnacle of what can be achieved by teamwork, but ‘The Team’ involves more people than just those employed directly by Renault. We enjoy a strong partnership with CD-adapco and the extensive use of STAR-CD for both engine and chassis development makes a significant contribution to the team’s continued success.”

As the Renault F1 Team celebrate victory after victory for their new race-car package, partners CD-adapco have recently released their own winning package: March 17th saw the official release of STAR-CD V4, the latest version of CD-adapco’s flagship CFD package. As with all of the technology associated with the Renault F1 Team, CD-adapco's products continue to evolve at great speed in order to stay in front of the competition. Like Alonso’s R26, STAR-CD V4 is built on revolutionary new technology that makes it faster than previous versions and faster than the competition.

CD-adapco President and Founder Steve MacDonald is thrilled but not surprised: “The Renault F1 Team’s success is built around team-work and CD-adapco are proud to be a part of that team. We work hard to provide a competitive edge to all of our industrial partners and the success of our friends at the Renault F1 Team demonstrates that our effort is not in vain”

CD-adapco is the leading global provider of full-spectrum engineering simulation solutions for fluid flow, heat transfer and stress, including CFD software, CAD-embedded CFD options, CAE consulting services and training. http://www.cd-adapco.com/