SEPTEMBER 5, 2001
Mugello Testing
RUBENS BARRICHELLO opened the latest Mugello test by topping the timesheets for Ferrari, but an altogether bigger impact was made by young Briton Anthony Davidson in the BAR.
The Carlin Motorsport Formula 3 driver was in his first full test for the team for whom he is one of the heavily subscribed testing squad alongside Carlin team mate and newly-crowned British Formula 3 champion Takuma Sato.
In an ignominious debut however he exceeded the target time set for him by the team on his first run, and on his second ran wide at the fast Arrabiatta corner, losing the back end and charging into the barriers on the opposite side of the circuit.
Takuma Sato fared better for the Brackley-based team, setting the third fastest time, nine tenths of a second off Jean Alesi in the Jordan and gaining wet weather experience. The team's race driver Olivier Panis will take over from Davidson for the rest of the test.