Sato Goes Quickest at Jerez - Day Three

Takuma Sato posted the quickest time on the third day of testing at the Jerez circuit, where the Japanese driver set the fastest time of the week.

On another day of almost perfect weather conditions, the BAR test driver jumped from the bottom to the top of the times with a fastest lap of 1:18.672. Sato, slowest on his first day of work with the only Bridgestone-shod car on track, finished less than a tenth of a second ahead of Ralf Schumacher.

The Williams driver, who finished in a disappointing eighth position at last Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, took over from the team's test driver Marc Gene at the wheel of the BMW-powered FW25 as the Grove-based outfit continued to put miles on the new car. Gene will return to the wheel tomorrow for the final day of work.

Frenchman Olivier Panis also joined the Jerez test today, replacing Toyota teammate Cristiano da Matta. Panis posted the third fastest time of the day after 67 laps with the TF103 from the Japanese squad.

"Well, the least I can say is that we had a productive morning, working on various suspension options and also on engine braking," said Panis. "We started some tyre work this afternoon already looking ahead at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

"Basically everything went according to plan. We just stopped slightly earlier than expected towards the end of the day as the engine reached the end of its life. Generally we were happy with what we found today as the car responded well to the various changes we were trying."

The McLaren team continued working with both Alexander Wurz and Pedro de la Rosa. Today both drivers covered a massive distance as the British squad worked on the reliability of the Australian Grand Prix winning car. Wurz finished ahead of de la Rosa, who today concluded his work for McLaren.

The Jerez test will finish tomorrow, when the Michelin-shod teams will carry out a wet session.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Sato BAR-Honda (B) 1:18.672 85 2. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.729 69 3. Panis Toyota (M) 1:18.983 67 4. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:19.387 115 5. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:19.635 100 All Timing Unofficial

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