Friday March 10th, 2000

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve said he was pleasantly surprised on Friday after steering his BAR-Honda into fifth place after the opening day's practice for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. The 1997 world champion, who failed to score a point for the team last year, was grinning with pleasure afterwards and said: "I really didn't think we could manage that!"

He said he was surprised how well the car seemed to be working on one of his favourite circuits, a track where he almost won his first Formula One race in 1996.

"I think we found a good balance which is very important for us in this event and it feels good for us to make a decent start. I didn't think we would be this high up and it shows how much progress the team has made in the winter that we are not that far behind the Ferraris and the McLarens."