BAR Barcelona test notes 2002-10-01/03

Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda brought their 2002 season test programme to a close today at the end of a productive 3-day test in Barcelona (1-3 October). The team's objective at the Circuit de Catalunya has been to put some more mileage on the latest evolution of the Honda engine in preparation for the forthcoming Japanese Grand Prix, together with a tyre test for Bridgestone, an aerodynamic assessment and a software evaluation.

On day one, Anthony completed a total of 74 laps and achieved the second fastest time of the day - a 1:19.718.

B.A.R's Japanese test driver Ryo Fukuda was in the car on day two, making his debut at the Spanish circuit. His primary focus during the morning was to familiarise himself with both the track and the car then in the afternoon he worked through a development programme for next year's car. Ryo completed 70 laps, posting a best time of 1:21.752.

Anthony concluded the 3-day programme today covering a further 70 laps in a productive day's testing. A small mechanical problem caused him to spin off and hit the barrier at the close of the session but he was unhurt. Today's running brings the total distance covered at this test to over 1000km.

Commenting on the final day of the Barcelona test, Anthony Davidson said: "We have covered plenty of laps over the last three days and both the car and the engine proved to be reliable. A mechanical glitch caused me to spin off at the end of the day and I hit the barrier but I'm fine. I now have a weekend to relax before I fly to Japan."

Ryo was delighted to be back behind the wheel once more and was pleased with his one-day programme. He commented: "It's been a long time since my last test for B.A.R and it's also the first time I've driven in Barcelona, so I spent some time just getting used to the car and the track and finding my rhythm. After that, I started the test programme and it all went well. It was raining quite a lot at one point though, and that made it very slippery especially on the kerbs."

"I was driving the BAR004, whereas before I've been in the BAR003. I definitely noticed a big improvement with the 004."

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