Valencia, day 2: Kimi sets the pace
Times tumbled on the second day of testing in Valencia as the rain held off and high winds swept the track dry. In the end it was McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen who came out on top, as Michelin runners reclaimed the head of the timesheets in the warmer weather
Second quickest was Williams star Juan Pablo Montoya, who put the latest spec BMW engine through its paces, recording over 100 laps of the tight and twisty circuit. Honda also gave its newest V10 a run out and BAR's Olivier Panis used it to good effect to set the third best time. The French veteran reported that the unit was more drivable than its predecessor, and will concentrate on its durability testing tomorrow.
Eddie Irvine continued to refine the difficult Jaguar R3 to his liking and was fourth quickest, ahead of McLaren tester Alex Wurz, who was giving the hybrid 2001 MP4-16B its swansong outing.
With the rigours of the start/stop Imola circuit in mind both Sauber and Jordan worked on brake testing. Takuma Sato drove for Jordan in the morning and enthused about increased power with the new Honda, and Giancarlo Fisichella managed a handful of laps in the afternoon. He'll test all day tomorrow (Thursday).
Britons Allan McNish and Anthony Davidson had troubled times. The Toyota driver lost a large part of the afternoon's running with an electrical problem that required a total overhaul, while Davidson suffered a gearbox failure when practising starts at the end of the pit lane. He then had one of the biggest blow ups the Honda engineers have seen to compound his misfortune.
Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes M 1m13.14s 42
Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m14.53s 102
Olivier Panis BAR-Honda B 1m14.56s 78
Eddie Irvine Jaguar M 1m14.68s 66
Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes* M 1m14.79s 35
Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW* M 1m14.83s 90
Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas B 1m14.83s 87
Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda B 1m15.04s 43
Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda B 1m15.79s 8
Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m15.89s M 1m15.89s 75
Allan McNish Toyota M 1m17.08s 29
Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda B 1m17.33s 12
M = Michelin
B = Bridgestone
* denotes 2001 car
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