Barrichello Leads the Way at Silverstone - Day Two

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello set the pace on the second day of testing at the Silverstone circuit, where a massive 18 drivers were in action today. The session was again hit by rain in the afternoon, with the fastest times being set during the morning.

Barrichello, who replaced Italian test driver Luca Badoer at the wheel of the Ferrari F2002, continued with the set-up work started by Badoer on Tuesday. The Brazilian driver was less than two tenths of a second faster than McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who was joined today by teammate David Coulthard, winner of the Monaco Grand Prix last Sunday. The Scot was third quickest.

Eddie Irvine was fourth quickest as the Jaguar team continued with the development of their Cosworth-powered R3. The Milton Keynes squad were in action today with three drivers, Irvine outpacing Australian tester James Courtney and Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa, who finished at the bottom of the timesheets after completing only nine laps.

Ralf Schumacher and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya continued working for the Williams team, the German setting the fifth quickest time while the Colombian was tenth fastest.

The Renault team resumed testing today at the British track, with Jenson Button joining Jarno Trulli. Both drivers conducted basic set-up work during the morning, while the afternoon saw them conducting tyre development programmes for Michelin.

"We had a useful day at Silverstone," commented technical director Mike Gascoyne. "Jarno and Jenson were both happy with the progress they made during the morning, whereas our tyre work during the afternoon was focused on the forthcoming races this season."

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was eighth fastest, the former World Champion joining the test today and working alongside Frenchman Patrick Lemarie for the British American Racing team. Villeneuve finished right ahead of Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi, whose Arrows team joined the test today.

Felipe Massa and the Sauber team again worked on set-up work for the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix at the wheel of the Petronas-powered C21, the young Brazilian setting the 11th quickest time.

"The conditions were better this morning than they were yesterday, and though there was a high wind the track was dry," said Massa. "We worked through most of our intended schedule and continued it after lunch, when we also did some suspension set-up development.

"I had a spin just before the lunch break, but overall, apart from the frustrating weather, it's been another reasonably productive day."

Giancarlo Fisichella, who set the pace on a wet track on Tuesday, could only set the 13th quickest time today, behind teammate Takuma Sato, the Japanese testing for the first time this week at the British track.

The Toyota team endured a dismal day despite both their racing drivers replacing their testers today. Finn Mika Salo could only run in the afternoon after his mechanics repaired the car damaged by Stephane Sarrazin on Tuesday. However, Salo's progress was hampered by the rain.

"It has been a very difficult day for us today," said Salo. "We have not been able to do any of the programme we had planned. This morning was spent fixing the car after Stephane's crash yesterday and this afternoon was wasted because of the weather. I sincerely hope we get some serious running done tomorrow."

Salo's teammate Allan McNish took over from Australian Ryan Briscoe at the wheel of the second TF102, but the Scot wasn't too lucky, his car suffering a transmission problem. McNish finished in front of Salo.

"We had a problem early on today with the transmission, which lost us the morning session," McNish said. "Inclement weather prevented us from much work in the afternoon, apart from a few runs concentrating on car balance. On a positive note though, it has been nice to see so many fans here."

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:22.055 47 2. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:22.225 61 3. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:22.513 40 4. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:23.108 33 5. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:23.171 55 6. Button Renault (M) 1:23.209 55 7. Trulli Renault (M) 1:23.414 41 8. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:23.791 54 9. Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth (B) 1:24.385 47 10. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:24.624 16 11. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:24.783 23 12. Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:24.829 14 13. Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 1:25.031 23 14. McNish Toyota (M) 1:25.434 20 15. Salo Toyota (M) 1:25.886 16 16. Lemarie BAR-Honda (B) 1:25.895 28 17. Courtney Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:26.638 19 18. De la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:31.891 9 All Timing Unofficial

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