Barrichello Fastest, Fisichella Shines at Valencia

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello set the fastest time on the first day of testing at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, where the majority of the Formula One teams will carry out their preparations ahead of the start of the 2003 season.

Barrichello, at the wheel of last year's F2002 car, took full advantage of the almost perfect weather at the Spanish circuit to continue working with the development of the Italian car. The Brazilian covered 78 laps and finished nearly three tenths ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella.

"We chose to test here because of the weather and because this is a very good track to test tyres, and a day like today proved we were right," said Barrichello at the end of the day. "This is the first time that there are so many teams on the same track, and that helps us see how competitive we are compared to the others."

Italian Fisichella set a promising pace with the new Jordan EJ13 after 64 laps, being the quickest of the drivers using the 2003 car. The Silverstone-based outfit worked hard to rectify the teething problems which hampered their test in Barcelona last week until the final day of the session. Jordan said they were satisfied "that the EJ13 was clocking up useful track time and valuable data."

"It was good to get some normal test running in today, and although we still have a bit to do here and there, we have made progress," said Jordan's Gary Anderson. "We haven't had any major problems today and we are beginning to understand the car better. It's encouraging that we are lapping a second quicker than we were here last year."

Frenchman Olivier Panis was third quickest with the Toyota TF103, as the Japanese squad continued working on the development of the Michelin-shod machine. Teammate Cristiano da Matta was sixth fastest with the second Toyota, finishing less than a second behind Panis after causing one of the three red flags at the circuit today when he spun off track.

"This is my first proper test with the new car after last week's washout at Paul Ricard," said da Matta. "The car handled great straight away and, although we did not do too much in the way of set-up work, the car feels more stable and the traction is much better than the TF102B.

"The total package of chassis, engine and gearbox in the TF103 is really good, but we need to make some small adjustments to the position of my seat and the pedals."

Australian Mark Webber with the Jaguar R4, and McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz also forced the session to be stopped after going off the circuit. Both were able to continue testing after the incidents, and Webber finished as fourth fastest ahead of Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who was again working at the wheel of the BAR 005.

Briton Gary Paffett was again in action for the McLaren team after standing in for an unwell David Coulthard last week at Valencia. Paffett finished as ninth fastest, only ahead of Japanese driver Takuma Sato, who got back to the wheel as he continued working with the new BAR.

The Minardi team were also at the Valencia circuit today. The Anglo-Italian squad are scheduled to start testing tomorrow, but they are still to finalise a deal with a tyre supplier and it's still unclear whether they will be able to begin working.

Testing at Valencia will continue tomorrow, when the Sauber team are expected to join the session.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:11.420 78 2. Fisichella Jordan-Ford (B) 1:11.703 64 3. Panis Toyota (M) 1:11.867 62 4. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:11.952 31 5. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:12.384 64 6. Da Matta Toyota (M) 1:12.690 64 7. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:12.774 39 8. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:12.889 96 9. Paffett McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:12.890 8 10. Sato BAR-Honda (B) 1:13.118 53 All Timing Unofficial

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