Saturday February 12th, 2000

By Michele Lupini, South Africa

The echoing wail of Grand Prix machinery through the valleys of northern Johannesburg was testament to the fact that 25,000 Grand Prix starved South Africans were enjoying the thrill of the first day of Kyalami testing not to be interrupted by rain.

They were treated to a feast of F1 action - the three cars present completing almost 200 laps in fine conditions, as well as a good number of practice pit stops as the teams honed their pit work in anticipation of the Australian GP in just under a month.

Jenson Button, BMW Williams' young new signing, is rapidly getting a grip on his new job and caused a mild sensation by setting the fastest lap of the session while satisfying his qualification requirements for his F1 superlicence. Jenson circulated in 1:24.784 on one of his 57 laps of the Johannesburg circuit as the team went through a number of tests. He edged out teammate Ralf Schumacher, who achieved a best of 1:24.982. BAR Honda's Ricardo Zonta was a close third in 1:25.012.

Both teams have had an encouragingly trouble free run at Kyalami so far, especially compared with the same test last year, although they have suffered from the weather after a week which saw the region's highest rainfall in half a century. With the welcome good weather now likely to continue, both teams should get through some vital hot condition work in the coming days.

The tests have had their fair share of drama too, which continued today when Williams boss Patrick Head stepped into the path of Zonta's oncoming BAR in the pitlane. Luckily, a wide-awake Kyalami marshal alerted Head with a blast of his whistle...

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team          Time      Laps
 1.  Button        Williams-BMW  1:24.784   57 
 2.  R.Schumacher  Williams-BMW  1:24.989   48 
 3.  Zonta         BAR-Honda     1:25.012   92 

Kyalami's best time in 1999: 1:20.993 (R. Schumacher, Williams-Supertec)