Fisichella Fastest at Friday Testing

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella topped the times in Friday morning's test session at the A1-Ring ahead of this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix after outpacing the Jaguar drivers to put Jordan out in front.

Fisichella set a time of 1:09.781, almost two seconds slower than last year's pole position, to finish one tenth of a second ahead of lead Jaguar driver Antonio Pizzonia.

Struggling Brazilian Pizzonia, who has now been backed by his Milton Keynes-based team after they threatened to replace him, finished just more than a tenth of a second ahead of Australian teammate Mark Webber.

Renault driver Jarno Trulli set a late time to claim fourth place from teammate Fernando Alonso, who has been talking down his chances for success at the A1-Ring after his impressive display at the last race in Barcelona.

The Spaniard was fifth fastest with a time of 1:10.380, with Scottish test driver Allan McNish completing the Renault trio more than six tenths of a second off the pace. Jordan rookie Ralph Firman finished seventh fastest, almost one second slower than teammate Fisichella, with Justin Wilson and Jos Verstappen completing the timesheets in their Minardis.

Sunshine and clear skies greeted the drivers as they headed out for the session of the weekend and it took only 13 minutes for the first mistake to come when Trulli went off track at the Remus Kurve. Webber lost control at the Castrol Kurve 13 minutes later and his Jaguar teammate Pizzonia also made a mistake in the following corner seven minutes later.

Trulli made a second mistake to lose control of his Renault at the Grosser Kurve and Webber added to the tally of off-track excursions when he spun his Jaguar with 45 minutes of the session left to go.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Fisichella Jordan-Ford (B) 1:09.781 37 2. Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:09.907 + 0.126 50 3. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:10.036 + 0.255 39 4. Trulli Renault (M) 1:10.338 + 0.557 49 5. Alonso Renault (M) 1:10.380 + 0.599 64 6. McNish Renault (M) 1:10.395 + 0.614 59 7. Firman Jordan-Ford (B) 1:10.763 + 0.982 35 8. Wilson Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:11.280 + 1.499 31 9. Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:11.717 + 1.936 36 All timing unofficial