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Barrichello Leads the Way at Barcelona - Day Three

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello topped the timesheets on the penultimate day of testing at the Barcelona circuit, where again a massive 14 drivers were carrying out their teams' preparations for the upcoming British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello topped the timesheets on the penultimate day of testing at the Barcelona circuit, where again a massive 14 drivers were carrying out their teams' preparations for the upcoming British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Ferrari driver Barrichello, at the wheel of the F2003-GA, posted the fastest time of the week so far, lapping around a tenth of a second quicker than Ralf Schumacher did on Wednesday. Barrichello concentrated on testing aerodynamic components and tyre work, covering a total of 102 laps.

Williams driver Schumacher, fastest yesterday, wound up third today, some three tenths of a second behind the team's test driver Marc Gene, who completed two Grand Prix distances as the Grove-based outfit continued with the development of their FW25 ahead of their home race.

"We completed our penultimate test day today at the Circuit de Catalunya under clear and sunny skies," said Williams' test team manager Tim Newton. "Ralf spent the day evaluating set up options as well as performing some tyre testing for Michelin.

"Marc successfully completed a race distance this morning whilst spending the afternoon on further set up work of the FW25. In total, the drivers covered over 1000 kilometres between them today which has provided us with some invaluable information prior to the race at Silverstone next weekend."

Briton Ralph Firman was fourth quickest in the only Jordan on track today, while Frenchman Olivier Panis finished fifth with the Toyota, having taken over from teammate Cristiano da Matta at the wheel of the TF103 chassis from the Japanese squad.

"Today was very productive for me and for the team, and it was better for everybody to work in good weather conditions after yesterday," said Panis. "We spent quite some time this morning completing series of short runs to compare the different Michelin tyres from which we have to choose for the next races.

"This afternoon, we worked, still together with Michelin, on the entire package and tested new aerodynamic kits as well as some engine upgrades. I had a good initial feeling of these new elements, which I look forward to confirm tomorrow. We will continue with a similar programme, as we hope to introduce these improvements in the race as soon as possible."

McLaren worked once more with three drivers, with Finn Kimi Raikkonen setting the sixth quickest time in the MP4-17D chassis. His teammate David Coulthard replaced Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa in the new MP4-18A, which today was driven by the Scot and test driver Alexander Wurz. The new McLaren again finished at the bottom of the times, with Wurz not even setting a time.

The BAR-Honda team were also testing with three cars. Japanese Test driver Takuma Sato was the fastest of the BAR trio, outpacing Briton Jenson Button and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who today replaced Anthony Davidson in the third of the 005 cars.

Nick Heidfeld was the man in charge of testing duties for the Sauber team, posting the ninth fastest time of the day as he concentrated on testing a new front suspension layout in the Petronas-powered C22.

"Thanks to good weather conditions we were able to do a lot of test work today," said Jacky Eeckelaert, Sauber's head of engineering. "We have tested a new front suspension layout and also three different front wings for the upcoming Silverstone race. Furthermore, we completed our Bridgestone work with regard to the next race and decided upon the tyres to be used.

"We have also evaluated several new front and rear dampers. Tomorrow Neel Jani will take over and it will be his second proper Formula One test. Today and yesterday he was conducting straight-line tests for us in Vairano. We will focus tomorrow first on finding the right car set-up for him before we will start to do some aerodynamic tests."

Scot Allan McNish continued at the wheel of the only Renault on track. After completing more than 2.5 Grands Prix distances on Wednesday, the test driver had another hard day, covering almost 100 laps on his way to the 11th fastest time of the day.

"It was much the same story as yesterday," said Renault's Pat Symonds. "We did a lot of running today, and the tyre work allowed us to make our choice for Silverstone, as well as testing a number of new constructions for the coming races."

Testing at Barcelona concludes tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:17.830 102 2. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.022 125 3. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.414 95 4. Firman Jordan-Ford (B) 1:18.426 61 5. Panis Toyota (B) 1:18.672 83 6. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:18.726 110 7. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.788 105 8. Sato BAR-Honda (B) 1:19.347 47 9. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:19.489 102 10. Button BAR-Honda (B) 1:19.528 92 11. McNish Renault (M) 1:19.867 98 12. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:20.028 100 13. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:20.078 45 14. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) no time 7 All Timing Unofficial

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