Gene Fastest at Damp Barcelona - Morning Session

The rain once again hampered the team's progress on the third day of testing at the Barcelona circuit, where Williams' test driver Marc Gene topped the timesheets in the morning session.

Despite the sun shining in the later part of the session, the track was still damp and Gene's best lap was eight seconds slower than David Coulthard's best from Tuesday. The Scot was only eighth quickest today while teammate Kimi Raikkonen completed just an installation lap and did not set a significant time.

The Jordan team finally joined the session on Wednesday after missing the first two days. Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, who returns to the British team after his stint at Benetton, was the fastest of the Jordan duo, with Japanese star Takuma Sato finishing right behind his teammate in eleventh place driving last year's EJ11.

"I've had quite a productive morning so far and have just got out of the car for a few minutes while we change some elements of the set-up," said Sato. "Track conditions are quite poor at the moment as the whole circuit is damp, but I think it will dry out for this afternoon and enable me to become more familiar with the car and its systems."

1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve also joined the test today, the Canadian driving the new British American Racing 004, while teammate Olivier Panis worked with last year's car.

Morning times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:28.444 2. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:28.987 3. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:29.962 4. Button Renault (M) 1:30.515 5. De la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:30.596 6. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:31.069 7. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:31.168 8. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:31.326 9. Burti Ferrari (B) 1:31.568 10. Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 1:31.749 11. Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:32.300 12. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 1:32.671 13. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:32.762 14. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:32.779 15. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:33.075 16. McNish Toyota (M) 1:34.535 17. Trulli Renault (M) 1:56.757 18. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) no time All Timing Unofficial