APRIL 21, 2002
Arrows completes first test of the season
The Orange Arrows team went testing last week at Silverstone for the first time since the season began six weeks ago in Australia.
Frentzen said that he is still discovering the performance potential of the car but that things are getting better.
There is little doubt that despite the financial problems which the team is suffering from, that the new A23 is a better car than the Jaguar R3, although as the two machines run on different tires it is not easy to be totally sure. Arrows has had dire reliability this year but testing should improve matters so long as the team can continue to afford to do development work.
It is worth noting that in recent days there have been rumors suggesting that Jaguar Racing wants to sign up Arrows's aerodynamicist Niccolo Petrucci. This would make a great deal of sense for Jaguar as they know that Petrucci can already create a car capable of beating the current Jaguar and that his 2003 car will be better than that.
It remains to be seen whether the rumors are true - and whether Petrucci takes the opportunity.
Jaguar Racing still has an image problem because of the recent turnover of staff and management and we hear that there are more changes taking place at the moment which have yet to be made public.