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Barcelona, day 3: Badoer ends on top

Luca Badoer ended the three-day test at Barcelona on top of the timesheets, setting a best lap over 1.5 seconds faster than anybody else

Jaguar driver Mark Webber set the second fastest time of the day, completing over 80 trouble-free laps of the Circuit de Catalunya. Webber had run only a handful of laps in the previous two days of the test, after problems with Cosworth's new 2003 engine.

It was the turn of Webber's team-mate Antonio Pizzonia to hit trouble. The Brazilian took over testing work on the R3B car which had been assigned to Webber for the past two days. He ran only 11 laps in the morning session, and failed to turn a lap this afternoon after the car suffered a recurrence of the valve problem that prevented Webber from running.

The most dramatic moment of Pizzonia's day came after the test session had finished. Pizzonia set off on some promotional laps of the Circuit de Catalunya driving an S-Type with three journalists on board. The driver managed to crash at Turn One, rolling the car and writing it off. No-one was injured, although Pizzonia was slightly dizzy afterwards.

Olivier Panis only managed 27 laps today, and his running was curtailed by a hydraulic leak that caused a fire. He again out-paced new team-mate Cristiano da Matta. The CART champion ran 79 laps and had another spin as he continued acclimatising himself to Formula 1. He was pleased with the progress he made during the test, saying: "I'm just learning the team and doing whatever I can. I'm not quite comfortable in the car yet, but it's natural so it will come."

Luca Badoer Ferrari B 1m17.141s 83
Mark Webber Jaguar M 1m18.692s 86
Olivier Panis Toyota M 1m19.129s 27
Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda B 1m19.536s 72
Cristiano da Matta Toyota M 1m.20.400s 79
Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar M 1m21.190s 11

B=Bridgestone
M=Michelin

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