Wilson hopes for testing benefit

Britain's Justin Wilson celebrated the opportunity to rack up some valuable test miles in his Cosworth-powered, Michelin-shod Jaguar Racing R4 last week, completing two days of running at Monza in Italy in preparation for this weekend's Italian ...

Britain's Justin Wilson celebrated the opportunity to rack up some valuable test miles in his Cosworth-powered, Michelin-shod Jaguar Racing R4 last week, completing two days of running at Monza in Italy in preparation for this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, Round 14 of the Formula One World Championship.

Justin Wilson.

Photo by Brousseau Photo.

Restricted, thanks to a summer test-ban, to a couple of brief shake-down tests prior to his first two starts with the team, the German and Hungarian Grand Prix respectively, Justin relished the opportunity to spend last Tuesday and Wednesday behind the wheel and increase his knowledge of the R4 and of the historic Monza circuit before Sunday's 53-lap race.

Following his Italian test Justin remarked: "Overall I'm very happy with what was achieved in Italy. The team had a programme to run through concentrating on tyres, aerodynamics and some development parts that needed trying out. I certainly learned more about the car and further developed my driving style to extract the most from it. We made gains and that's good for everyone's confidence."

"One of the chief benefits of running last week is that I can head into Friday's extra two-hour test session with more in-sight," Wilson continued, focussing on the weekend ahead. "For the first time this season I'll start Friday with previous experience of the track with the car I'm racing. It should hopefully allow me to put in a good start and be further ahead as far as set-up is concerned."

"I love racing at Monza, it's definitely one of my favourite circuits. My approach this weekend will remain unchanged. As ever, I'll keep an eye on Mark (Webber) as he's doing a fantastic job for the team this season; I'm aiming to do the same in the time remaining. There are times when I have to go my own way on set-up etc but if it's for the benefit of the team then we work together to get the best results. There's obviously pressure to perform, it's a case of unlocking everything at the right time and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens this weekend."

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello triumphed in last year's Italian Grand Prix to the delight of the 'tifosi' at Monza, from team-mate Michael Schumacher, the German having already clinched the 2002 Drivers Title. Justin's Jaguar Racing team celebrated third with Eddie Irvine scoring an unexpected podium for the Milton-Keynes outfit. Justin previously raced at Monza in the final round of his title-winning year in International F3000. Crowned Champion a round earlier at Spa, Justin's points paying consistency continued to the end, starting from the front row and collecting second place in the race, his 10th podium finish from 12 starts that year.