De la Rosa Impressive at Barcelona - Day Two

Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa set an impressive pace on the second day of testing at the Barcelona circuit, where the six Formula One teams who had opted for unlimited testing this year are carrying out their preparations ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

De la Rosa, who was dumped by the Jaguar team at the end of last season, continued working at the wheel of the race-winning McLaren MP4-17D, setting a fastest lap of 1:15.506 despite covering the least number of laps in today's session.

The Spaniard outpaced Scot David Coulthard, who joined the Barcelona test today, by more than six tenths, and was around half a second off the track record, set by Michael Schumacher earlier this year.

Williams test driver Marc Gene, who had topped the timesheets on the first day of work, was third fastest after failing to improve his time in the afternoon. The Spanish tester was again driving the FW24D chassis, while Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya continued with the new FW25, finishing right behind Gene on a day where the perfect weather conditions allowed the drivers present to set very fast times.

"We had a similar weather conditions as yesterday," said Williams' test team manager Tim Newton at the end of the day. "Marc completed a tyre test with Michelin while Juan concentrated on set-up comparisons and chassis work. We will be joined by Ralf tomorrow."

Luca Badoer and Rubens Barrichello were again in action for the Ferrari team, with the Italian outpacing the Brazilian by nearly half a second. Badoer worked with both the F2002 and the new F2003-GA, while Barrichello drove only the old machine.

Briton Jenson Button, taking over from test driver Takuma Sato, posted the sixth quickest time of the day with the only BAR on track after a massive 107 laps around the Circuit de Catalunya. Brazilian Cristiano da Matta finished seventh in the Toyota, as the Japanese squad continued to work on solving a fuel pressure problem that hampered them both in Australia and Malaysia.

German Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who kicked off Sauber's three-day test at Barcelona today, finished at the bottom of the times with the Petronas-powered C22.

"Our test programme for today basically comprised working on tyre data and testing new aerodynamic parts," said Sauber's head engineer Jacky Eeckelaert. "Already at the Grand Prix in Sepang last week we chose the type of Bridgestone tyres which we will be using in Brazil. Today we made the final check with regard to achieved lap times and wear.

"While the race team was in Malaysia our engineers back home were making further aerodynamic tests in the wind tunnel. Based on the data gathered they developed new parts which we are hoping will bring improvements for us. We started to test those under real race conditions."

Testing will continue tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:15.506 31 2. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:16.132 65 3. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:16.144 85 4. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:16.373 73 5. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:17.571 65 6. Button BAR-Honda (B) 1:17.734 107 7. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:17.964 87 8. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:18.157 73 9. Frentzen Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:19.105 89 All Timing Unofficial

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