Ferrari Duo Dominate at Wet Jerez

Ferrari test drivers Luca Badoer and Luciano Burti dominated on the third day of testing at the Jerez circuit in Southern Spain.

The teams' progress, however, was hampered by the rain, which didn't allow the drivers to work on a totally dry track, with several "offs" during the day.

Ferrari's programme was a continuation of the tyre and electronics testing which they began yesterday, with Badoer completing 52 laps in total, setting a best time of 1:27.215. Burti covered 50 laps, his quickest being a 1:27.706, the Brazilian going off the track twice.

German Ralf Schumacher was third quickest with the Williams, while Spaniard Marc Gene was fourth fastest at the wheel of the second car from the Grove-based squad.

"Today we continued the same routine as yesterday, tyre testing, systems work and traction control," said Tim Newton, Williams' test team manager. "The weather again was changeable providing both wet and dry conditions. The majority of day was given to wet tyre testing with Michelin.

"It was not a special day on the track, and we missed the best track conditions when both cars were in the garage before the weather changed again. However, the weather did provide us with a perfect track for wet testing."

Ferrari and Williams were joined today by the Renault team and both their drivers Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli.

The Spanish driver worked at the wheel of last year's car, while Trulli put more miles on the hybrid version of the R202, with the 2003 engine and gearbox. The Italian, however, completed only nine laps and finished at the bottom of the timesheets.

"Difficult and changeable weather conditions limited our running on this first day of testing," said Renault's technical director Mike Gascoyne. "Jarno's task was the shakedown of the new chassis in the interim car and as he was able to complete only few laps we decided to save engine mileage for the rest of the test.

"Fernando continued suspension development work in last year's R202. Overall we had a frustrating day due to the weather but we hope for better conditions tomorrow and beyond."

Testing at Jerez resumes tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:27.215 58 2. Burti Ferrari (B) 1:27.706 50 3. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:28.059 63 4. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:28.455 54 5. Alonso Renault (M) 1:31.064 27 6. Trulli Renault (M) 1:33.502 9 All Timing Unofficial

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