BAR Barcelona day three notes

Day three of Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda's first test of the season and Jacques Villeneuve joined team mate Olivier Panis on track for his first run in the BAR004.

A positive day's testing saw Jacques run 43 laps in the car, his fastest being a 1.22.817 on lap 34. Commenting on his first day back in the driving seat after the winter break, he said:

"The car has definitely improved and there's a lot more still to come. Also, the engine is still in its infancy so there's a lot more to come from that as well. There's good reason to be positive though. This year, the mechanical side of the car feels much better. The rear is a lot more stable, and in high speeds the car seems to be more stable as well. As this is just a first preliminary test there will be some more changes for the next test so I'll be back in the car then. We knew there was going to be a big difference in the car this year and so it's nice to get in it and see those improvements. The car feels good so I'm feeling positive."

Engineering Director, Malcolm Oastler, was similarly optimistic about the progress being made:

"Jacques has been here for today to try out the car and give us his initial feedback, which has been very positive. So far he's happy with the changes we've made. We're running a very preliminary spec with the car and engine here this week though so Jacques is happy to wait until next week in Valencia to test the car further."

Once again, changeable weather conditions limited the team's running time today. Olivier Panis was able to complete 42 laps, his fastest being a 01.22.790.

At the mid point of this week-long test session, Chief Engineer Steve Farrell said:

"Today was the first opportunity for Jacques to have a run in the new car. The weather was not particularly favourable but he was able to do some laps in the dry, during which time he confirmed Olivier's optimistic feedback from Monday. Olivier has been in the BAR003 today, continuing with some of the aerodynamic testing started by Anthony earlier in the week. Again we were somewhat interrupted by the weather but we've made some good progress nonetheless."

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