BAR Valencia Thursday test report

Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda
Valencia, Spain
17 January 2002

Positive first day in Valencia

Following a successful first test for Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda in Barcelona last week, Olivier Panis, Jacques Villeneuve and Anthony Davidson completed the first of a four-day test in Valencia today.

Bright sunshine and warm temperatures provided excellent conditions for the track debut of the team's second BAR004 chassis, in which Jacques completed 48 laps. Olivier put in 81 laps in the BAR004/01 and both drivers concentrated their efforts on chassis set-up work while also putting more mileage on the new Honda engine. Valencia offers the team a different set-up to Barcelona so its many low-speed corners gave the drivers and the engineers the opportunity to dial the car in for this type of circuit. Anthony Davidson concentrated on an engine and brake programme in last year's car.

New signing Ryo Fukuda arrives in Valencia tomorrow ready to prepare for his first test on Saturday and Sunday. He will take to the BAR003 to settle in prior to continuing Anthony's development work.

Steve Farrell, Chief Engineer
"We're very pleased that we have been able to deliver the second chassis for Valencia so that both race drivers can concentrate on set-up work for the new car. We lost a little track time with the second chassis this afternoon due to minor teething problems but we've achieved nearly 250km with that car today so I think that's been an outstanding first-day achievement. As was the case in Barcelona, we've had both drivers giving very similar feedback - very positive feedback. Until such time as we put the right chassis, the right aerodynamics and the right engine specification together we're not going to see what our outright pace is but we're certainly very pleased with the progress so far."

Olivier Panis
"We had a good first day and I managed to put in a lot of laps - 81 in total. We made our first race distance in Barcelona and the car seems to be going well here in Valencia also. We hope to improve the balance a little more tomorrow and we're obviously waiting for some new parts prior to Melbourne but I have a good feeling about the car mechanically and I'm really positive, just the same as in Barcelona."

Jacques Villeneuve
"The car felt good in the morning and I was getting to grips with it quite well. This afternoon we had a minor problem and we lost some time but right now it's just a case of seeing how the car reacts and it seems to be reacting quite well. Mechanically, the car works much better than last year. It reacts to changes so that's good and it feels good to drive. We just need to wait until we get the Melbourne aerodynamic package to see how fast we're really going to go."

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