Schumacher Keeps Top Spot at Barcelona - Day Four

Ferrari's World Champion Michael Schumacher stayed at the top of the timesheets at the Barcelona circuit after breaking the track record in the morning of the fourth day of testing.

Schumacher posted a fastest lap of 1:15.020 as he continued to work on tyre and electronics testing for World Champions Ferrari, who finished testing today. The German champion was slightly over two tenths of a second quicker than the previous record of 1:15.266, set by Scot David Coulthard with a McLaren earlier this year.

Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello, more than two seconds off the German's pace in the morning, went much faster in the afternoon and finished around seven tenths behind him. The session was completely dominated by Ferrari, with Italian test driver Luca Badoer setting the third quickest time in the other F2002.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was the first of the non-Ferrari drivers today, although the BAR star was more than three seconds off Schumacher's pace. Villeneuve, at the wheel of the Honda-powered 005, completed just 31 laps after a mechanical problem saw him stopping on track in the afternoon.

Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia continued working with the new Jaguar R4 and set the fifth fastest time ahead of Briton Jenson Button in the second BAR. Pizzonia's teammate Mark Webber worked again with the old R3 chassis and finished seventh after 49 laps as the Milton Keynes-based outfit wrapped up their first test with the new car.

"Today has been an okay day," Pizzonia told Jaguar's website. "The aim of the Barcelona test has been to shake down the Jaguar R4 and get as much mileage on the car as possible and learn as much on the new car, the new engine and new Michelin compounds as possible."

The Jordan team endured another torrid day that saw Giancarlo Fisichella completing only 20 laps after losing his rear wing on the straight of the circuit. The Italian, who hasn't been able to run much with the new EJ13 since Monday, finished at the bottom of the times after only 20 laps, all of them completed in the morning.

Testing at Barcelona resumes tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:15.020 84 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:15.730 68 3. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:16.431 38 4. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:18.195 31 5. Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.349 63 6. Button BAR-Honda (B) 1:18.524 21 7. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.532 49 8. Fisichella Jordan-Ford (B) 1:19.819 20 All Timing Unofficial

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