Tuesday January 15th, 2002

After a first day of wet tyres testing, the four Formula One teams that started working at Valencia on Monday, plus another three - Jordan, Minardi and Toyota - tested on Tuesday at the Spanish circuit, where David Coulthard was once again the quickest driver.

Coulthard, who had topped the timesheets in the wet yesterday with last year's McLaren, was followed closely by his new teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who after 42 laps was less than two tenths of a second slower than the Scot as he continued adapting himself to the Woking-based squad.

Juan Pablo Montoya was the quickest of the Williams duo present at the circuit. The Colombian, however, suffered an engine problem that saw him come into the pits with a smoking car. Montoya, who already tested at Valencia on Monday, was joined today by Brazilian test driver Antonio Pizzonia.

Jenson Button and teammate Jarno Trulli continued working for the Renault team, the Briton posting the fourth quickest time while the Italian was sixth fastest behind compatriot Giancarlo Fisichella in the first of the Jordans. The Italian was the busiest man on track, completing a total of 93 laps to finish more than a second ahead of teammate Takuma Sato.

Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa was, alongside Finn Mika Salo, the only man to work at the wheel of a 2002-spec car, the Jaguar driver setting the ninth quickest time with the Cosworth-powered R3. Salo and Toyota joined the session on Tuesday as they continue with the development of their TF102 following its first test at the Barcelona circuit last week.

"It has been another learning day for us and I feel comfortable in the car," said Salo. "We have been doing some useful stuff today whilst we wait for new aerodynamic parts to come in. Things are getting better day by day."

The Finn was only six hundreds of a second slower than de la Rosa and finished ahead of Eddie Irvine in the second Jaguar. The Irishman managed to complete only a handful of laps before his car stopped on the circuit with a mechanical problem.

The Minardi team kicked off their preparations for the 2002 season today at Valencia, testing with both Malaysian Alex Yoong and Italian Matteo Bobbi, who made his Formula One debut as the Faenza-based squad.

23-year old Bobbi, who finished in sixth place in the 2001 Formula Nissan championship in Spain, set the slowest time of the day, nearly two seconds behind Yoong, who will continue testing with last year's car alongside Spaniard Antonio Garcia on Wednesday.

"The team opened its testing for the 2002 season today at Valencia where we ran two cars," said Minardi boss Paul Stoddart. "A little problem for one of them in the morning with the clutch was soon sorted out and Alex was able to record a quite respectable time considering that he did not know the circuit.

"In addition to that Matteo Bobbi completed a useful test session and, considering it was his first time out in the car, he did an incredible job. He will certainly have a bright future."

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine         Tyres  Time     Laps   
 1.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)    1:13.353  47
 2.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)    1:13.510  42
 3.  Montoya       Williams-BMW        (M)    1:14.193  42
 4.  Button        Renault             (M)    1:14.778  64
 5.  Fisichella    Jordan-Honda        (B)    1:14.596  93
 6.  Trulli        Renault             (M)    1:14.778  55
 7.  Pizzonia      Williams-BMW        (M)    1:14.946  38
 8.  Sato          Jordan-Honda        (B)    1:15.810  82
 9.  De la Rosa    Jaguar-Cosworth     (M)    1:15.915  44
10.  Salo          Toyota              (M)    1:15.973  51
11.  Irvine        Jaguar-Cosworth     (M)    1:16.758   5
12.  Yoong         Minardi-Cosworth    (M)    1:19.311  25
13.  Bobbi         Minardi-Cosworth    (M)    1:21.067  19

All Timing Unofficial

Published at 18:05:15 GMT