Tuesday Valencia testing report

David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen continued to lead the way for McLaren during testing at Valencia today. Thirteen drivers took part in all - the weather was fair and although the track was still damp earlier on from yesterday's wet session, by the afternoon it had dried out. Raikkonen topped the time sheets in the morning session while Coulthard took over the top after lunch, setting a fastest of 1.13.353, less than two tenths of a second ahead of his team mate. McLaren spent much of their time on development for new tyre supplier Michelin.

Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya had an eventful day, although not of the best kind. In spite of setting the third fastest time, just under a second slower than the two McLarens, Montoya's FW23 caught fire and he had to return to the pits. Later on he was left stranded on the track when the car's power steering failed.

Jenson Button was highest placed for Renault in fourth, being seperated from team mate Jarno Trulli in sixth by Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella. Fisichella put in by far the most track time with 93 laps while Takuma Sato in the sister Jordan had a brief spin in the morning session before landing the car in the gravel in the afternoon - leaving him with the eigth fastest time behind Williams' tester Antonio Pizzonia.

The only new cars on track were Pedro de la Rosa in the Jaguar R3, who was ninth, followed by Mika Salo in the Toyota. Eddie Irvine's Jaguar R2C was eleventh and the two Minardi's of Alex Yoong and Mateo Bobbi bought up the end of the field. Yoong was assessing new suspension parts and also using the team's new gearbox, while Bobbi familiarised himself with the performance of the car.