Friday Second Free Practice - US GP

Michael Schumacher underlined his determination to claim a second victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at this weekend's United States Grand Prix when he finished fastest in Friday's second practice session.

While his teammate Rubens Barrichello remained in the garage after his crash in the morning session, German Schumacher sliced more than a second off his earlier time to finish 0.575 seconds ahead of second-placed Eddie Irvine's Jaguar.

Ulsterman Irvine, boosted by his podium finish at the Italian Grand Prix, was in rejuvenated mood and seemingly improved his time on demand to retain the gap behind his former Ferrari teammate Schumacher.

The McLaren-Mercedes pair of Scot David Coulthard and Finn Kimi Raikkonen were third and fourth quickest but Coulthard's time of 1:14.919 was 1.371 seconds slower than that of Schumacher.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve finished in fifth place for British American Racing Honda, while German Heinz-Harald Frentzen put in an impressive performance in only his second session in the car to finish sixth.

Italians Giancarlo Fisichella, of Jordan, and Jarno Trulli, of Renault were seventh and eighth, with Germans Nick Heidfeld, of Sauber, and Ralf Schumacher, of Williams-BMW, completing the top ten.

The session had little incident other than a few off-track excursions and minor spins, but Jordan's Takuma Sato lost out when he crashed into the tyres at turn eight after just eight minutes of the session.

And in the dying minutes, gremlins struck Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams-BMW and the Renault of Briton Jenson Button and they both stopped on the side of the track, with Montoya down in 16th place and Button three places ahead.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:13.548 205.188 km/h 33 2. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:14.123 + 0.575 27 3. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:14.919 + 1.371 39 4. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:14.986 + 1.438 30 5. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:15.035 + 1.487 41 6. Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:15.136 + 1.588 36 7. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 1:15.209 + 1.661 42 8. Trulli Renault (M) 1:15.256 + 1.708 40 9. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:15.260 + 1.712 38 10. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:15.291 + 1.743 37 11. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:15.304 + 1.756 34 12. Salo Toyota (M) 1:15.421 + 1.873 39 13. Button Renault (M) 1:15.548 + 2.000 40 14. McNish Toyota (M) 1:15.589 + 2.041 46 15. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:15.629 + 2.081 48 16. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:15.632 + 2.084 26 17. Sato Jordan Honda (B) 1:15.659 + 2.111 27 18. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:15.941 + 2.393 34 19. Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:16.138 + 2.590 46 All Timing Unofficial