Burti to Open New Season on Friday

Brazilian Luciano Burti will begin his first season as racing driver for the Jaguar team on Friday, as he shakes down the Jaguar R1B at the Silverstone circuit.

Burti will test a new transmission and a new engine, both to be used during the 2001 season, before the Milton Keynes-based team travels to Jerez, Spain, to begin their winter testing programme.

"Tomorrow is going to be a shakedown test, just to check if everything is OK for the others testes, in Spain and in Portugal," said Burti. "We had a tough year in 2000, so it is very important to begin our work very soon, and I'm sure our team will have a good test schedule in order to develop the Jaguar R2."

Burti, who has been promoted from test to racing driver in 2001, was confident about the prospects for the new season, but he believes their performance will depend a lot on the tyres.

"I think Jaguar will have a better car for 2001, but it's now very soon to say if we are going to be more competitive. The tyres will play a important part of our possibilities next year, so I hope we can work a lot with Michelin in order to take the best of our tyres."

Michelin is returning to Formula One next season after a fifteen-year absence, and Jaguar will be one the teams the French company will supply to.