Test round-up: Takagi returns
Tora Takagi returned to the cockpit of an F1 car for the first time since 2000 when he tested for Toyota at Paul Ricard today (Thursday). The Japanese, now in his second year of Champ Car racing, had a full day's running, completing 107 laps
"The last time I drove in F1 was two years' ago," said the former Arrows and Tyrrell driver. "For me this was an exciting experience and it is incredible just how much F1 technology has changed in that time. I want to say thanks to Toyota for giving me chance to drive today. It was good fun and very different to CART."
Takagi's best lap was 1m16.958s, which was around two seconds down on the fastest time recorded by regular driver Mika Salo, and 3.5s shy of the ultimate pace, which was set by McLaren's David Coulthard. With next week's Monaco GP in mind the teams opted to use the shorter version of the circuit, which explains why the times are so much quicker than they were on the previous two days.
Kimi Raikkonen made it a McLaren one-two, Heinz-Harald Frentzen was third quickest and Felipe Massa fourth. Less than a second separated the top four.
Testing continues tomorrow when another CART driver, Cristiano da Matta, gets his first ever run in a Toyota F1 car.
Ferrari's Luciano Burti completed his testing at Jerez in Spain today where he was joined by BAR test driver Anthony Davidson. Using an F2001 the Brazilian performed a further 82 laps of tyre testing, setting a best lap of 1m22.150s. Davidson's quickest lap was 1m22.618s.
Meanwhile back in Italy Michael Schumacher was in ominous form in Ferrari's 2002 car. The German broke his own track record at Fiorano, setting a best time of 58.326s, and running a total of 126 laps.
David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m13.342s 105
Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes M 1m13.828s 75
Heinz-Harald Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth B 1m14.157s 92
Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas B 1m14.291s 100
Mika Salo Toyota M 1m15.019s 57
Tora Takagi Toyota M 1m16.958s 106
M = Michelin
B = Bridgestone
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