BAR scores first points of season

British American Racing finally got off the mark this year with a remarkable result in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone lifting them from the bottom of the constructors' standings to seventh

Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis came home fourth and fifth in the team's home race, and it was not a result based purely on luck.

The team undoubtedly had the right tyres for the wet/dry conditions, with Bridgestone's intermediate and treaded rubber proving vastly superior to Michelin's. But both drivers had to race and pass cars in front of them to rise up the order.

Jacques Villeneuve said that he was encouraged by the performance and the result. "It was important for the team," said the Canadian."To get two cars in the points was great.

"This weekend we were finally competitive. For the first race this season we were confident that we didn't need luck to be in the points. Everybody at the team needed this. It won't make the car quicker, but it will make everyone happy and generally happy people work better."

Team boss David Richards was delighted to make the breakthrough. "It's down to perseverance," he said. "If you keep plugging away and do your job well, it will come right.

"There is always a bit of luck in motorsport, but that result was about team work, from the drivers to the pit crew to the man in the helicopter we sent up above the circuit telling us what the weather was doing."