MARCH 22, 2001

Franchitti's Jaguar hopes fade

JAGUAR have said that ChampCar driver Dario Franchitti is unlikely to test for the team again this season.

The team has signed Pedro de la Rosa to test alongside Tomas Schekter and support drivers Eddie Irvine and Luciano Burti, and Franchitti is not likely to get a chance to test for the team this season.

"In view of the driver portfolio we have available we have no reason to test another driver," said a team spokesperson.

"We most certainly have no plans to test Dario Franchitti at this point or at any point in the foreseeable future."

Rumors surfaced that Franchitti would test with Jaguar when team boss Bobby Rahal suggested he had not been given a fair chance in his first test for the team last year.

But the Scottish driver is not high on the agenda, and the team is just interested in improving their performance with their current testing program.