APRIL 5, 2001

Quick Nick puts Sauber traction in action

FRESH from his podium finish in Brazil, Sauber youngster Nick Heidfeld set the pace on the final of the three days of testing at Magny Cours near Nevers, France, where the weather once again hampered the development of the cars present at the track.

Heidfeld completed 76 laps under increasingly difficult conditions as the team prepares the electronic Îdriver aidsx for their legal return at the Spanish Grand Prix.

"We had a good run today," Heidfeld said. "At first I admit that I had a few problems adjusting to using traction control. It's an unusual feeling having something other than your right foot controlling the wheelspin. But you get used to it."

Marc Gene was second quickest for BMW-Williams, only five hundredths of a second slower off Heidfeld?s pace in a hybrid Williams FW22B, while Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was third with the FW23, focusing on the Michelin compounds and troublesome wet weather tires.

"We did some very good work with new tires and we found some quite interesting things about the tires, which should help us in the upcoming races," Montoya said. "We started a race simulation but I was stopped twice by some technical problems."

Frenchman Jean Alesi, fastest on Wednesday, set the slowest time of the day with the wayward Prost AP04.

MAGNY-COURS TEST - THURSDAY, 5 APRIL 2001 POS DRIVER ENTRANT TIME 1. NICK HEIDFELD Sauber-Petronas 1:15.63 2. MARC GENE Williams-BMW 1:15.68 3. JUAN PABLO MONTOYA Williams-BMW 1:15.99 4. ENRIQUE BERNOLDI Arrows-Asiatech 1:16.60 5. JEAN ALESI Prost-Acer 1:17.02