Fisichella Quickest at Jerez - Day Three

On the third and final day of testing at the Jerez circuit, Giancarlo Fisichella topped the time sheets with his Benetton-Renault.

The Italian driver, who just returned to work after his recovery from the knee operation he went through last month, completed 44 laps with a best time of 1:24.576, almost a second slower than Ralf Schumacher's best lap, set on Tuesday.

Fisichella was the only Benetton driver who was able to set a time at the circuit, while Williams - the other team present at the Spanish track - continued working with all their three drivers.

Today it was Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, again testing different Michelin compounds, who was fastest of the BMW-powered cars, less than two tenths of a second slower than Fisichella.

Ralf Schumacher, quickest both on Monday and yesterday, was third today behind his new teammate and in front of the team's test driver Marc Gene who, with 63 laps, was the busiest man of the day.

Benetton driver Jenson Button was restricted to three laps before mechanical problems ended his day, and he was unable to set a time.

Today's session, ran under a cloudy sky, concluded the three-day programme at Jerez.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. Fisichella Benetton-Renault (M) 1:24.576 2. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:24.732 3. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:24.786 4. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:26.062 All Timing Unofficial