Silverstone: Franchitti begins Jaguar test

Franchitti, who flew into the UK from Toronto yesterday (Monday), finished the morning ninth fastest. His best time of 1m29.40s was 4.2s off pace-setter Olivier Panis's quickest lap, but only 2.0s shy of Jaguar Racing's regular tester Luciano Burti. It was the Team KOOL Green driver's first taste of a grooved-tyred F1 machine.

A team insider said: "He's settling in pretty much as we'd expect. Bear in mind that two days ago he was racing something with full slicks, a turbo engine and ground-effect and you figure he's bound to be just feeling his way in until he's comfortable. It's a fairly fundamental adjustment he's making here."

Franchitti is widely-expected to sign for Jaguar Racing for 2001, but the Milton Keynes-based squad continues to play down the significance of the test, describing it merely as a chance for the Scot to fulfill his ambition to drive a modern F1 car. Franchitti, who ran in plain white overalls and an unsponsored helmet, is being cocooned from an expectant media, but an official press conference is expected to take place tomorrow.

In a methodical morning for McLaren, its test driver Olivier Panis topped the time sheets with a 1m25.20s lap, edging David Coulthard, runner-up in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, by 0.35s. Jarno Trulli's Jordan was third, but over a second away from Coulthard with a 1m26.88s lap

Silverstone is a chance for the teams to hone their set-ups for the German Grand Prix at the super-fast Hockenheim circuit. Seven teams and a total of 11 drivers took part in this morning's testing, with Jaguar, Mclaren and Jordan joined by BAR, Sauber, Benetton and Williams also taking part.

Ferrari has passed up the chance of joining in at Silverstone, but is testing at Mugello with Rubens Barrichello.

The test will continue until Thursday lunchtime.



1 Olivier Panis, McLaren-Mercedes, 1m25.20s
2 David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes, 1m25.55s
3 Jarno Trulli, Jordan-Mugen Honda, 1m26.88s
4 Ricardo Zonta, BAR-Honda, 1m27.31s
5 Luciano Burti, Jaguar, 1m27.40s
6 Mika Salo, Sauber-Petronas, 1m27.64s
7 Alex Wurz, Benetton-Supertec, 1m28.34s
8 Patrick Lemarie, BAR-Honda, 1m28.53s
9 Dario Franchitti, Jaguar, 1m29.40s
10 Ralf Schumacher, Williams-BMW, 1m31.35s
11 Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton-Supertec - no time, gearbox change.