British GP: BAR Friday notes

Overcast skies and intermittent showers set the scene for a difficult free practice session today in which Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda experienced mixed results. Jacques Villeneuve enjoyed a more successful first day's running than of late and ended the day in 6th position. Olivier's day wasn't quite as productive as he struggled with a car which was less at home in the wet. He completed the session in 14th position, disappointed that his search for a good base car will have to continue into tomorrow morning's session.

Jacques Villeneuve

"We had a good first day today. Two very good sessions and the car feels very driveable in the rain which is great. In the past, I've always had a car which has been difficult to drive in the wet but it seems that this car works well here. It's good - it means we can be aggressive. If the rain stays all weekend then it's looking good for us. If it's dry, then I'm not sure where we'll be. The problem with qualifying in the wet is you have to be out at the right time and because you only have 12 laps you never know when the track is going to be at its quickest, so its very difficult."

Olivier Panis

"Not a very good day at all today. Generally, the car was very difficult to drive and then I lost a lot of track time in this morning's session due to a traction-control related problem. That's the last thing you need in these track conditions. The problem was fixed for this afternoon but then I struggled all the way through the second session with oversteer. We tried a lot of things to improve it but nothing seemed to make the problem better. This feels like a very different car to the one I had in the Nurburgring; the balance is not good at all. We have to work through everything in the debrief now to try to find a solution for tomorrow morning."

<B>David Richards, Team Principal

"Finding a good balance was no easy task in these track conditions and it's no surprise that the drivers experienced such mixed fortunes today. Jacques had a very good first day's running and was able to put the car in a much-improved position for a Friday. Olivier on the other hand struggled with a less responsive car and that's a problem we will have to be on top of at the end of practice tomorrow. The weather will no doubt have a hand in qualifying but our objective is to put both cars inside the top 10 for the start of our home race on Sunday."

Jacques Villeneuve
BAR004/06
Position: 6th
Best lap time: 1:34.373 (36 laps)

Olivier Panis
BAR004/08
Position: 14th
Best lap time: 1:35.534 (24 laps)

T-Car
BAR004/09

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