Canadian GP BAR Friday notes

MONTREAL, CANADA, June 16, 2000 - In warm conditions and under sunny skies, Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda took a measured approach to its first day of preparations for this Sunday''s Grand Prix of Canada. The team focused on finding a good chassis balance for the cars of Jacques Villeneuve and Ricardo Zonta. Once the track surface of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve had "cleaned up", times generally began to tumble and both BAR Hondas looked competitive. Unfortunately, Zonta lost nearly 40 minutes of the afternoon session when a gearbox oil leak forced him back to the pits for repairs. Both drivers felt their cars were well suited to the demands of the Ile Notre Dame circuit and expressed confidence that they would be able to put in a strong performance in tomorrow''s qualifying session. JACQUES VILLENEUVE
Position: 10th
Fastest lap: 1:21.846
"The car seems pretty quick right out of the box, which is good. The track was becoming rubbered in all day and therefore getting better, so everyone was going quicker. It''s a tough track on the car - you use a lot of braking here - but physically it''s quite easy. We should definitely do a lot better in qualifying tomorrow than we did at Monaco, but I have no idea exactly where we''ll qualify. At least we should be competitive and able to fight this weekend." RICARDO ZONTA
Position: 20th
Fastest lap: 1:22.668
"Overall, the car is quite good and very fast. I made a mistake in the first session when the track was dirty and spun off. The second hour was more important because the track was getting quicker, but we only managed to do a total of four timed laps before there was a gearbox oil leak on the car and I lost the rest of the session. On my first timed lap this afternoon, I was 0.8 seconds faster than my best time this morning, so I think there is a good chance to qualify well tomorrow." STEVE FARRELL, Chief Engineer, British American Racing
"We''re happy enough with our efforts for the first day, but our final positions this afternoon don''t reflect the overall performance of which we''re capable because of the problems that Ricardo encountered today. I''m confident we''ll get back on track with both cars running strongly tomorrow." TAKEFUMI HOSAKA, Managing Director, Honda R & D
"Today we have been concentrating on the set-up of the car. The speed seems to be very good as we are fastest across the finish line. We have had no problems with the engine today."