Coulthard on Top as Jerez Testing Comes to an End

McLaren's David Coulthard topped the timesheet of the last day of testing at Jerez, with a lap less than half a second slower than the track record, set by McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen yesterday.

Under sunny skies and with track temperatures reaching as high as 54°C, Coulthard clocked 1:19.242 - some four tenths faster than McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz.

Several drivers experienced mechanical failures on track - mostly related to the heat - with Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya and Jaguar's Eddie Irvine parking their cars in the gravel traps. Toyota's Ryan Briscoe had a minor accident, crashing his car into the tyre barriers, which he escaped unharmed.

"It has not been such a great day of testing," Briscoe said in the evening. "We have had some problems today and I have not got as many laps done as I would have liked. Having said that we did some work on aerodynamics, dampers and brakes as well as on balance. Unfortunately I had an accident at the end of the session. Coming out of turn 5 I had some understeer, put two wheels over the kerb and went into the wall, but apart from a bit of whiplash I am fine."

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Coulthard McLaren-Merecedes (M) 1:19.242 82 2. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:19.697 75 3. Alonso Renault (M) 1:19.972 60 4. Burti Ferrari (B) 1:20.096 96 5. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:20.668 63 6. Trulli Renault (M) 1:20.986 59 7. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:21.532 51 8. Briscoe Toyota (M) 1:21.882 48 9. Lemarie BAR-Honda (B) 1:22.703 95 All Timing Unofficial

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