MAY 14, 2002

Preparations for Monaco underway

SOME of the teams resumed testing on Tuesday in preparation for Monaco in just two weeks time. Williams test drivers Antonio Pizzonia and Marc Gene were the fastest among three teams testing at the Valencia circuit in Spain Tuesday. The two Williams pilots were joined by Renault's Jarno Trulli and BAR's Jacques Villeneuve.

Trulli was back behind the wheel of the R202 Tuesday to begin a five day test for the French outfit. The Italian completed 84 laps concentrating on general set-up work for Monaco, as well as brake and suspension geometry testing. The team's test driver, Fernando Alonso will join Trulli on Wednesday for further work.

Villeneuve was the slowest man on the track Tuesday, but must be encouraged by the car's performance in Austria over the weekend. The Canadian was battling for points before his engine failed, rather dramatically, and it appears that the Honda engineers have finally found a bit of power.

Felipe Massa continued development for Sauber Tuesday as well. The Brazilian tested alone at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France. The Swiss team will test until Friday, alternating Massa and Nick Heidfeld behind the wheel.

Ferrari was back to work as well, testing alone at two different circuits. Luca Badoer completed an aerodynamic program at Fiorano in an F2002, while Luciano Burti conducted a tire program for Bridgestone in an F2001 at the Jerez circuit in Spain. Burti will continue at Jerez, while Michael Schumacher will take over from Burti at Fiorano on Wednesday.

VALENCIA TEST - TUESDAY, 14 MAY 2002 POS DRIVER ENTRANT TIME 1. ANTONIO PIZZONIA Williams-BMW 1:12.583 2. MARC GENE Williams-BMW 1:13.169 3. JARNO TRULLI Renault 1:13.572 4. JACQUES VILLENEUVE BAR-Honda 1:14.325