Pizzonia Tops the Times at Jerez - Day Three

Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia set the quickest time of the third and penultimate day of testing at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Spain.

The Williams test driver, one of the candidates to fill the second racing seat at the German Grand Prix next week, posted the quickest time of the week so far with a lap of 1:17.462. Pizzonia outpaced his Spanish teammate Marc Gene by over second as both men continued with the BMW-powered squad's preparations for the race in Hockenheim.

Jenson Button was second for the BAR-Honda team, although the Briton completed just 27 laps in the session. Teammate Takuma Sato joined the test today, taking over from the team's test driver Anthony Davidson at the wheel of the second 006 car. Sato finished as sixth fastest.

World Champion Michael Schumacher, winner of 10 out of 11 races so far this year, got back to work for Ferrari, replacing Brazilian Rubens Barrichello in the only Bridgestone-shod car at the Spanish circuit. Schumacher, who spun off track twice during the day, was third quickest.

Ricardo Zonta was in action for the Toyota team for the third consecutive day, posting the fourth fastest time, over half a second ahead of Frenchman Olivier Panis. The veteran driver tested the revised Toyota TF104B for the first time as he replaced Cristiano da Matta.

Renault's Fernando Alonso also joined the Jerez test, the Spaniard being the busiest man on track with 125 laps. Alonso, who concentrated mainly on tyre testing with his R24 car, worked alongside the French squad's test driver Frank Montagny, seventh today after he was hit by mechanical problems.

Pedro de la Rosa was the quickest of the McLaren drivers, outpacing his Austrian teammate Alex Wurz, who finished at the bottom of the times. Both men were again driving the MP4-19 car while the team tested the revised 19B at Silverstone.

Jaguar's Mark Webber and his teammate Christian Klien were 10th and 12th quickest respectively.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 1:17.462 84 2. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:17.477 27 3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:17.904 69 4. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:18.212 78 5. Alonso Renault (M) 1:18.289 125 6. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:18.394 65 7. Montagny Renault (M) 1:18.431 105 8. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.535 89 9. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:18.545 107 10. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.568 98 11. Panis Toyota (M) 1:18.679 81 12. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.695 92 13. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:18.965 86 All Timing Unofficial

Visit Atlas F1's Testing Center for further information