Frentzen tops times for Jordan

Heinz-Harald Frentzen topped the testing times in Barcelona to- day as the German set an impressive 1m 21,37 secs in qualifying trim before going on to start a simulated race run which he completed without problems. A simulation on the softer of the two Bridgestone tyres, like McLaren's similar test, showed the softer tyres to be a far slower option (around 3 seconds per lap) for the race and only slightly quicker than the harder tyres in qualifying trim. Frentzen completed 80 laps for the day with no problems. Hill set the third fastest time of 1m 21,50 secs but then had a troubled day with gearbox and wheel bearing problems which prevented him from running a full race distance.

Coulthard runs 83 laps

It was a better day for David Coulthard to-day. Despite a couple of minor problems which saw his car towed back, the Scot ran 83 laps for McLaren with a best of 1m 21,44 secs including a race simulation which he managed to complete without problems. On the other hand, Hakkinen's race run was again interrupted by gearbox problem related to the hydraulics. He only completed 42 laps for the day and was hoping to finally complete a race simulation on Saturday.

Stewart back on the track

With a shortage of engines for the first race, the Stewart team decided to take part in only the final two days of the test running two of their new SF03 chassis for Johnny Herbert and Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello set an encouraging fourth fastest time of 1m 21,94 secs after running 37 laps, while Herbert stopped after 38 laps with smoke coming from the engine area of his car. Herbert was also suffering from the flu. Ford have modified their engines since their three failures last week and the team hope to complete race distances with their cars on Saturday.

Prost run Panis and Trulli

After modifying the exhaust flow out the back of their cars the Prost team seems to have overcome their rear wing failures, but the shortage of a second rear win to-day meant that Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli had to share the same car throughout the day. Panis ran 61 laps and a best of 1m 22,37 secs before handing over the rear wing and other parts to Trulli who set a 1m 22,89 secs in just 15 laps in his own race chassis. Both drivers worked on chassis set ups and are hoping to complete race distances Saturday when the team will have a second rear wing available.

Diniz continues with Sauber

After working late on the car, Pedro Diniz ran 54 timed laps for the day ( best 1m 23,73 secs) the Brazilian stopping just before the end of the session with a gearbox problem.

Friday Test Times:

Driver              Team               Time     Laps
H.H. Frentzen       Jordan 199         1.21.37  80
David Coulthard     McLaren MP4-14     1.21.44  83
Damon Hill          Jordan 199         1.21.50  58
Rubens Barrichello  Stewart SF03       1.21.94  37
Mika Hakkinen       McLaren MP4-14     1.22.09  42
Olivier Panis       Prost              1.22.37  61
Jarno Trulli        Prost              1.22.89  15
Jhonny Herbert      Stewart SF03       1.23.22  38
Pedro Diniz         Sauber             1.24.46  21


Saturday Test Times:

No reports were available.


Driver              Team               Time     Laps
Jarno Trulli        Prost              1.21.09  50
Rubens Barichello   Stewart SF03       1.21.14  18
H.H. Frentzen       Jordan 199         1.21.34  68
Damon Hill          Jordan 199         1.21.54  8 
Olivier Panis       Prost              1.21.63  32
Mika Hakkinen       McLaren MP4-14     1.22.03  26
David Coulthard     McLaren MP4-14     1.22.06  22
Pedro Diniz         Sauber             1.23.17  27
Johnny Herbert      Stewart SF03       1.23.79  9