AUGUST 18, 1997

Trulli beats the Mugello lap record

PROST driver Jarno Trulli last week set the fastest ever lap around the Mugello racing circuit, near Florence.

PROST driver Jarno Trulli last week set the fastest ever lap around the Mugello racing circuit, near Florence. Trulli, who is standing in for the injured Olivier Panis, lapped the Ferrari test track in 1m25.120s, beating the record established by Michael Schumacher's Ferrari in testing at the start of April.

The fast up and down sweeps of Mugello are useful for teams testing for Spa-Francorchamps although the temperature at Mugello was very high and it is unlikely that the conditions will be the same in Belgium, although the weather at Spa is famously unpredictable.

Trulli was tire testing for Bridgestone and later tried the latest versions of the 1998-spec grooved tires.

Sauber was also in action at Mugello - using two test cars for the first time - and both Johnny Herbert and GianniÊMorbidelli did a considerable number of laps, setting up the cars for Belgium.