Frentzen Quickest on Final Day of Paul Ricard Testing

Arrows's driver Heinz Harald Frentzen topped the time sheet of final day of testing at Paul Ricard, setting the fastest time of 2002, with 1:12.530.

Frentzen, who was running alongside the McLaren, Sauber and Toyota drivers, completed ninety laps in sunny and hot conditions. He was a second faster than McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen.

The day ran relatively trouble-free for all participants, despite Nick Heidfeld suffering from oil leak in the morning. "However after changing the engine we were able to get our program back on schedule and Nick completed our planned work on mechanical set-up, including launch control settings, in readiness for Monaco next weekend," Sauber's Jacky Eeckelaert, the head of test team, said.

Also running at Paul Ricard today was Brazilian Cristiano Da Matta, who was testing for Toyota. The CART championship favourite this year ran 97 laps, with a best time of 1:15.082 - less than a second slower than Toyota's Allan McNish.

"I am very impressed with this experience," Da Matta said. "I did 97 laps but I am not really tired. The car was much lighter to drive than in CART but more demanding on the neck due to much higher G-forces. The high speed corners were particularly impressive and I didn't expect such high grip levels from the grooved tyres."

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) 1:12.530 90 2. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:13.532 94 3. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:13.694 111 4. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:14.097 69 5. McNish Toyota (M) 1:14.235 63 6. Da Matta Toyota (M) 1:15.082 97 All Timing Unofficial

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