Franchitti dials into Formula 1

Franchitti, who is expected to make the switch from Champ Cars to F1 with Jaguar next season, ran 36 laps in his first official test for the team, finishing the day with a fastest time of 1m28.41s, compared to Burti's 1m27.40s set this morning.

"He took it nice and steadily and whittled his times down progressively as the day went on," said a team insider. "Considering this morning was the faster session for most of the guys out there, he's done well. I think we're all pretty impressed, but I expect you'll see the proper times coming tomorrow."

Franchitti's last outing in a Formula 1 car was a McLaren-Mercedes at Jerez in 1996, but today was his first taste of a car with grooved tyres. He will continue testing tomorrow (Wednesday) and is scheduled to give an official press conference after the morning session.

Burti completed 49 laps, but his day was cut short by a 100mph-plus accident at Stowe corner. The impact left his R1 seriously damaged, destroying everything on the car's left side, but the Brazilian was uninjured and will continue testing tomorrow.

Jaguar team-leader Eddie Irvine was scheduled to undergo further tests in London today to ascertain the cause of the stomach pains that forced him to pull out of last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, and Burti remains on standby to take part in his second Grand Prix in Germany should a problem be diagnosed.

Fastest overall were McLaren's Olivier Panis and David Coulthard, both setting their times in the cooler morning session. Ricardo Zonta was third overall, despite throttle sensor problems that left him stranded out on the circuit late in the afternoon session.

Zonta is scheduled to have three wisdom teeth removed tomorrow and will be replaced by the team's English test driver Darren Manning.

Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton leapt to fourth overall after failing to set a time this morning with gearbox problems, with Mika Salo fifth for Sauber, ahead of Jordan's Jarno Trulli.

Trulli had an EJ10 and and EJ10B chassis at his disposal and spent the day on back-to-back comparisons, setting his fastest time in the B-spec car. Jordan is set to debut the B-spec chassis, which boasts significant aerodynamic modifications, at Hockenheim.

Ralf Schumacher's Williams-BMW was 11th and last after a day of electronics problems, but the Williams testing programme will be bolstered by the arrival of Jenson Button for day two of the test tomorrow.

The test is scheduled to end at lunchtime on Thursday.



1 Olivier Panis, McLaren-Mercedes, 1m25.20s (63 laps; time set AM)
2 David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes, 1m25.63s (28; AM)
3 Ricardo Zonta, BAR-Honda, 1m26.66s (41; PM)
4 Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife, 1m 26.79s (25; PM)
5 Mika Salo, Sauber-Petronas, 1m26.86s (47; PM)
6 Jarno Trulli, Jordan-Mugen Honda, 1m26.88s (43: AM)
7 Luciano Burti, Jaguar, 1m27.40s (49; AM)
8 Alex Wurz, Benetton-Playlife, 1m27.57s (34; PM)
9 Patrick Lemarie, BAR-Honda, 1m27.91s (37; PM)
10 Dario Franchitti, Jaguar, 1m28.41s (36; PM)
11 Ralf Schumacher, Williams-BMW, 1m28.94 (46; PM)