French GP: BAR Saturday notes

After a generally positive qualifying session in Magny-Cours today, which saw improvement throughout the 60 minutes, Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda drivers Olivier Panis and Jacques Villeneuve will start tomorrow's 2002 French Grand Prix in 11th and 13th positions respectively.

Olivier Panis

"We had a good qualifying today. We worked with the revised engine throughout the session and improved the car quite a bit, so the team did a great job. I pushed hard on the last run and, using all my experience, I was able to put in a good lap. When we compared the times we had gained a second between the first and last run. Our tyres aren't as competitive in qualifying at this circuit but we know that the Bridgestone tyres will perform better during the race, so we will have to see what tomorrow brings."

Jacques Villeneuve

"Honda have provided us with two of the latest evolution engines this weekend and Olivier and I have been working to different strategies. I didn't use mine in free practice this morning so I could keep it for qualifying and the race. As usual, we should be better off tomorrow and even a little extra bhp can make a difference at this circuit. We should also benefit when tyre degradation becomes a problem for other teams."

David Richards, Team Principal

"Today's session was very much as anticipated and dominated by tyre performance. Honda provided our cars with the latest specification engine; Olivier used his just for Saturday whereas Jacques ran fewer revs so he could use his engine on Sunday as well. Both drivers noticed the benefit so this bodes well for the remaining races this season. As for tomorrow, we're getting mixed reports about the weather and, from our point of view, a shower of rain would not be unwelcome."

Driver/Chassis
Jacques Villeneuve
BAR004/06
Position: 13th Best lap
time: 1:13.506 (12 laps)

Olivier Panis
BAR004/08
Position: 11th
Best lap time: 1:13.457 (12 laps)
T-Car: BAR004/09

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