Wednesday January 16th, 2002

Kimi Raikkonen continued to show his potential as a Formula One driver, as he set the quickest time on the third day of testing at the Valencia circuit in Spain, where the young Finn was close to breaking teammate David Coulthard's track record.

Raikkonen's 1:12.837 lap was less than a tenth of a second slower than Coulthard's best, set last year. The Scot finished the day behind Raikkonen, as the McLaren team continued dominating the test at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, where they set the quickest time on the two previous days.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was third fastest with the Jordan, more than a second behind the two McLarens, and also the quickest of the Bridgestone-shod runners. Japanese teammate Takuma Sato set the eighth quickest time as he continued learning the Spanish track in the second Honda-powered EJ11.

Briton Jenson Button again showed the Renault team's good form in the 2002 pre-season by posting the fourth fastest time after 49 laps, while teammate Jarno Trulli was only ninth more than half a second behind Button.

It was not a good day for the Jaguar drivers, with both Pedro de la Rosa and Eddie Irvine suffering mechanical failures during the session. The Irishman, driving the new R3, broke a driveshaft early in the session, while the Spaniard suffered brakes problems with last year's chassis.

Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia was the fastest of the three Williams drivers at the track, with Juan Pablo Montoya right behind the test driver in seventh. Spaniard Marc Gene was also present at the circuit, but he only completed three installation laps and did not set a time.

Finn Mika Salo was again in charge of the testing duties for the Toyota team, who today concentrated on aerodynamic work with the TF102. Salo completed 57 trouble-free laps and set the tenth quickest time of the session, though the Finn once again admitted the team are not showing all their speed yet.

"We have basically continued with our test programme," said Salo. "Aerodynamics has been the main focus of the test today. We are not going for lap times at this stage - that will come later."

Spanish driver Antonio Garcia today made his Formula One debut at the wheel of a Minardi as part of his reward for winning the 2000 Formula Nissan championship in Spain. The former F3000 driver completed a total of 30 laps around the Valencia track and set the 12th quickest time, being faster than both the other two Minardi drivers Alex Yoong and Matteo Bobbi.

"I was really impressed," said Garcia. "I could never imagine to drive so fast, the installation lap was just enough to realize the potential of a Formula One car.

"I feel certainly amazed by the power of the car and its acceleration: braking is much brusquer and thanks to carbon brakes you can brake a bit late just a few metres before the corner. I think I did a good job for the race engineers and for the team. I am grateful to the team for giving me the opportunity to experience the emotions that only a Formula One can grant."

Testing at Valencia resumes on Thursday.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine         Tyres  Time     Laps   
 1.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)    1:12.837  107
 2.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)    1:12.954   24 
 3.  Fisichella    Jordan-Honda        (B)    1:14.002   85
 4.  Button        Renault             (M)    1:14.504   49
 5.  De la Rosa    Jaguar-Cosworth     (M)    1:14.366   51
 6.  Pizzonia      Williams-BMW        (M)    1:14.621   81
 7.  Montoya       Williams-BMW        (M)    1:14.850   42
 8.  Sato          Jordan-Honda        (B)    1:14.891  103
 9.  Trulli        Renault             (M)    1:15.076   30
10.  Salo          Toyota              (M)    1:15.359   57          
11.  Irvine        Jaguar-Cosworth     (M)    1:16.371   53 
12.  Garcia        Minardi-Cosworth    (M)    1:17.794   30          
13.  Yoong         Minardi-Cosworth    (M)    1:17.800   50
14.  Bobbi         Minardi-Cosworth    (M)    1:18.105   46
15.  Gene          Williams-BMW        (M)    no time    

All Timing Unofficial

Published at 18:12:06 GMT