Pizzonia Stays Ahead at Barcelona - Day Two

Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia finished on top of the timesheets on the second day of testing at the Barcelona circuit, completing another impressive day with the Jaguar team.

Pizzonia had already gone fastest in the morning session, and although he did not manage to better his time, his lap of 1:17.966 was enough to keep first position ahead of Luca Badoer. The Ferrari test driver, the busiest man on track with 83 laps, was less than two hundreds of a second slower than Pizzonia as the Italian continued assessing Bridgestone tyre compounds.

Frenchman Oliver Panis stayed as third fastest, the Toyota driver still working with the interim TF102B while teammate Cristiano da Matta drove last season's version of the Michelin-shod car. The Brazilian was one of the few drivers who improved his time in the afternoon session, finishing slightly over a second behind Panis and ahead of Briton Anthony Davidson with the BAR.

"Everything ran a lot better for me today," said da Matta. "We were able to complete 73 laps of the track with no real problems. I had a little spin in the morning session when I ran a bit too deep, but it was nothing major.

"The overall feeling I have for the car is getting better all the time and my focus at the moment is to get as many kilometres under my belt as possible."

Australian Mark Webber, who yesterday only completed a handful of laps before being hit by mechanical problems, endured another torrid session, his new Cosworth engine failing again. Webber could only complete six laps and finished at the bottom of the times.

Webber kept his spirits up as mechanics worked on his car: "It's frustrating but that's what happens in testing."

A Jaguar spokesman said that a valve in the engine had blown in the morning, damaging the bodywork on Webber's car. The afternoon was spent on systems checks.

Testing at Barcelona continues tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:17.966 53 2. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:17.978 83 3. Panis Toyota (M) 1:18.751 37 4. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:19.785 76 5. Davidson BAR-Honda (B) 1:20.231 77 6. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:33.051 6 All Timing Unofficial

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