MAY 3, 2001

Coulthard quickest in Spain

DAVID COULTHARD put his traction control failure in the Spanish Grand Prix behind him as he topped the times while testing the electronic aid on the third day of testing at the Valencia circuit on Thursday.

Coulthard, who was forced to start from the back of the grid in Spain on Sunday after a traction control problem, was the busiest man out on track and set a fastest lap time of one minute and 13.598 seconds after completing 106 laps.

Jaguar driver Eddie Irvine was less than three-tenths off the pace in second place in warm and sunny conditions, only briefly interrupted with some light drizzle after the lunch break.

Imola winner Ralf Schumacher focused on tire development and traction control ahead of the A1-Ring next week as he was third quickest for Williams. Team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth fastest.

Austrian test driver Alexander Wurz stood-in for two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen and was fourth fastest for McLaren.

The Michelin-shod teams - Jaguar, Prost, Benetton and Williams - will continue testing during a behind-closed-doors session on Friday as the plan is to artificially wet the track in order to develop their wet-tire set-ups.

VALENCIA TEST - THURSDAY, 3 MAY 2001 POS DRIVER ENTRANT TIME 1. DAVID COULTHARD McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.598 2. EDDIE IRVINE Jaguar 1:13.817 3. RALF SCHUMACHER Williams-BMW 1:14.315 4. ALEXANDER WURZ McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.442 5. JUAN PABLO MONTOYA Williams-BMW 1:14.580 6. PEDRO DE LA ROSA Jaguar 1:14.639 7. LUCIANO BURTI Prost-Acer 1:15.225 8. MARK WEBBER Benetton-Renault 1:15.763 9. JEAN ALESI Prost-Acer 1:16.098 10. JENSON BUTTON Benetton-Renault 1:17.568