Friday Valencia test report 2002-02-08

Five teams took part in the test session today at Valencia and there were more incidents on track. In the morning Alex Yoong spun his Minardi in the hairpin then the new Arrows signing, Heinz Harald Frentzen, spun at the first corner after the rear wing came off -- neither driver was injured. Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya caused the final red flag of the morning when he ground to a halt on the track with suspected hydraulic problems. Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa was the surprise of the early session by setting the fastest time before lunch.

Montoya was on top by the end of the day, the Colombian setting a fastest of 1.12.410 despite an engine problem towards the end of the session. De la Rosa continued his form to be second fastest, testing new aerodynamics and suspension. Antonio Pizzonia was third for Williams in front of Ralf Schumacher, who is still unhappy with the performance of the FW24. Frentzen was fifth after suffering another rear wing failure that sent him off track again.

The BARs of Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis were sixth and seventh; Panis tried a out new suspension which he was not hugely impressed with. Villeneuve had a gearbox problem, while tester Anthony Davison had his own suspension problems that resulted in a spin. He finished eighth, half a second slower than Villeneuve. Minardi remained at the bottom of the times; Alex Yoong in the PS02 ahead of Mark Webber in the PS01B.