APRIL 3, 2002
Raikkonen quickest at Valencia test
The weather dried up for the second day of testing at the Valencia circuit in Spain on Wednesday, and the eight teams participating in the test were able to do some useful runs on the dry track.
McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time of the day at Valencia by more than a second over Juan Pablo Montoya. Wednesday was the young Finn's first day at the test in the MP4/17. Raikkonen's teammate, Alexander Wurz, continued to test as well.
Olivier Panis finished the day third on the time sheet in the BAR, testing a new Honda engine. Both Honda supplied teams, BAR and Jordan, have complained about the lack of power the current engine is providing.
Jordan drivers Takuma Sato and Giancarlo Fisichella shared a car Wednesday, also fitted with the new Honda powerplant. The young Japanese driver tested in the morning, and Fisichella was only able to complete seven laps in the afternoon due to a small fuel leak.
Nick Heidfeld continued Sauber's testing program Wednesday. After setting the fastest time in the rain on Tuesday, the young German was sixth fastest Wednesday. "The weather has improved, which is good, since it means that over the two days we have been able to test under wet and dry conditions," said Heidfeld. "Added to aerodynamic work that we did yesterday, today's work session has helped pave the way for Felipe to put the Sauber C21 through its final day of testing here tomorrow."
Jarno Trulli also continued his testing program for Renault, and completed a useful day according to Mike Gascoyne. "An extremely useful day's running after yesterday's difficulties. This morning, we conducted a number of reliability tests with new and modified components. We ran a tire test for Michelin in the afternoon, but this was make difficult by the windy conditions. Overall, although the times may not suggest it at first glance, we had a very productive day".
Allan McNish continued to test for the rookie Toyota team. The teams will return Thursday for the final day in Valencia for most of them.
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