Monaco GP: BAR Thursday notes

Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda made a good start to their Monaco Grand Prix weekend today with a positive and trouble-free first practice. It was the usual first day programme - working towards race set-up, exploring the two Bridgestone tyre options for this race and track familiarisation. Olivier Panis and Jacques Villeneuve both achieved maximum laps - 61 and 59 respectively - and put in some good long runs to re-acquaint themselves with the twists and turns of the Monaco street circuit.

Olivier Panis

"We've done a good first day's work today. We tried many things to steadily improve the set-up and prepare us for different conditions. I did 61 laps and the car was very reliable so that's a good first step for the weekend. We did some long runs to understand the car here and also the tyres were improving as we put more laps on them. We don't have the best set-up yet and we need to make the engine a little more responsive but generally we seem to be making good progress so far. We still have a lot of work ahead to make sure we are in the best shape for qualifying because this is absolutely critical here."

Jacques Villeneuve

"Today hasn't been too bad for a first day in Monaco. It was a typical first practice in terms of working with the tyres and looking for a good race set-up. We did a lot of laps but we didn't manage to get the car running well enough yet. The car feels good generally but the track was very dirty this morning and there is generally a lack of grip here at the start of the weekend until it has been rubbered in. We still have some work to do in terms of tyre choice but we'll have to see what the weather has in store for us because it's so important here."

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director

"As was the case in Austria, we have made good progress throughout both practice sessions today which will stand us in good stead when we return to the track on Saturday morning. Both drivers put in plenty of laps so we have some good data to pore over tomorrow and a little more time than usual to understand the tyres and consider our options for the race."

David Richards, Team Principal

"We've made another good start to the weekend today and it is encouraging that both cars stayed reliable throughout. We will now be looking to make the same steady progress in Saturday's sessions in pursuit of a solid, competitive performance and hopefully our first points."

Driver/Chassis
Jacques Villeneuve: BAR004/07
Position: 14th
Best lap time: 1:21.086 (59 laps)

Olivier Panis: BAR004/08
Position: 12th
Best lap time: 1:20.887 (61 laps)
T-Car: BAR004/06

Temperatures
Track: 13-22 C
Air: 19-20C

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