Silv 2: Sato quickest

With the rain staying away after drenching the track on Tuesday, drivers completed lap after lap of the dry circuit as most teams conducted tyre programmes and set-up work in preparation for the Silverstone GP in July.

Sato and Da Matta both completed three quick laps to make their mark at the top of the table, while the third fastest man on track, Ferrari's Schumacher, carried out long runs, perhaps explaining his absence at the top in what was a very stable F2004.

Driving the new MP4-19B once again was Kimi Raikkonen who was able to compare his heavily-revised machine with the rest of the cars now that the rain had cleared. The Finn recorded the fourth quickest time just two tenths off Schumacher's pace after 66 laps despite his running time being cut short with a brake problem that took longer than expected to fix.

Rubens Barrichello took over from his Ferrari team-mate in the afternoon posting the fifth fastest time of the day ahead of Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, who also hit the track in the afternoon to carry out a tyre programme.

Renault's Jarno Trulli was seventh quickest while team-mate Fernando Alonso, who was the pacesetter in Tuesday's test, blew up his engine spectacularly on his way down to Stowe. The Spaniard finished the day eighth.

Williams' second driver Antonio Pizzonia worked on an electronics programme and although no problems were encountered the Brazilian spent a lot of time in the garage.

Jaguar's Christian Klien carried out the team's second day of testing duties setting the 10th fastest time ahead of the Jordan duo of Giorgio Pantano and Nick Heidfeld, who began their test today.

Further south, Anthony Davidson headed the timesheets on the second day of testing at Monza. Once again the Briton was powered by a brand new Honda engine which is scheduled to make its race debut at the US Grand Prix.


Takuma Sato BAR-Honda M 1m18.091s 67
Cristiano da Matta Toyota M 1m18.148s 124
Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 1m18.290s 76
Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes M 1m18.454s 66
Rubens Barrichello Ferrari B 1m18.509s 34
Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m18.650s 86
Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m19.090 126
Fernando Alonso Renault M 1m19.143s 80
Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW M 1m19.292s 43
Christian Klien Jaguar M 1m20.557s M 104
Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford M 1m21.104 85
Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford M 1m21.411s 59