Karthikeyan Pleased with Performance

The Indian driver, lapping the Gilles Villeneuve circuit for the first time today, finished 19th quickest with his Toyota-powered car.

Karthikeyan, who spun late in the second session, lamented how slippery the track was but was nonetheless happy with his day's work.

"I had a productive day today," said Karthikeyan. "As I have never driven here, I had to spend quite a bit of time learning the layout but this was not too difficult. The track surface was very dusty, which does not make your job any easier.

"However, we did quite a considerable amount of laps and I am quite pleased with that. Now we will decide on our tyre choice for the rest of the weekend and I will do my best to improve tomorrow again."

Karthikeyan finished ahead of teammate Tiago Monteiro, who was hit by mechanical problems in the morning session.

The Portuguese rookie was 22nd fastest.

"Today was a hard day as I lost nearly an hour this morning, due to a small hydraulic problem," said Monteiro. "Even though I know the track here for having raced in Champ Car in 2003, I still needed some running time.

"I pushed hard in the afternoon to make up lost time and I completed a great number of laps. Now we have to analyse the information we gathered and work well tonight to get a more stable car.

"There are so many important braking areas here, you have to be confident on the brakes and balance of the car. I am sure we will be able to manage that."