BAR Jerez test

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA. JANUARY 15TH 2001 - the Lucky Strike BAR Honda team made steady progress on day two of a four day testing programme in Southern Spain. Following a successful shakedown at Silverstone last week regular driver Olivier Panis continued with development and set up work on the BAR003 and worked his way through various suspension and transmission developments plus Honda engine tests. Joining him in Jerez was Takuma Sato the newly signed test driver from Japan. Takuma spent the second day of the test concentrating on traction control development and brake testing in the BAR002.

OLIVIER PANIS
Laps Completed : 43
"It was a good day's testing. I am very happy with the reliability of the engine. We had a very good run for the engine and gearbox tests that we carried out and we worked through the transmission problems and made some changes which seem to work. We are working very hard now on the set up and are looking to make improvements as the test continues."

TAKUMA SATO
Laps Completed : 63
"We worked on the brakes and different material types for most of the day and everything worked well during my time on the track and I enjoyed driving the car. Today I could concentrate on the job in hand as there was not so much pressure, as the last time I drove the car it was part of the driver development programme. I enjoyed the test and working with the engineers, I learnt a lot and made improvements. Now I know what it is like in Formula 1 and I am looking forward to my next opportunity in the car."

STEVE FARRELL - Chief Engineer.
"We had a very productive day of testing. Our main objective was the development work on the BAR003. After the transmission problems we encountered at the shakedown we made some changes which seem to have worked and this enabled us to continue our work on set up. We were also able to carry out significant engine mileage. We are on schedule with our plan for the remaining two day's of the test."

-BAR-