AUGUST 27, 2001

Wet weather testing for Spa

THE notoriously fickle weather in the Ardennes has prompted several teams to try out their cars in wet weather conditions before the Belgian Grand Prix - no mean feat as most of Europe enjoys a balmy late August.

Ferrari has most contingencies covered, and what its short Fiorano test track lacks of Spa-Francorchamps' grand, rolling magnitude it makes up for with an in-built irrigation system that soaks the circuit, where Luca Badoer has been splashing round in the sunshine while the race drivers, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, take time away from the cockpit after the Mugello test.

Meanwhile in Catalunya Michelin also created a wet circuit for its testing program, where Jenson Button headed the times and his running-mate Mark Webber was sidelined after only 7 laps with mechanical problems.