Valencia day 2: McLaren rules roost
The McLaren team continued to stamp its authority all over Formula 1 testing at Valencia on Tuesday with David Coulthard topping the times ahead of new team mate Kimi Raikkonen
After young Finn Raikkonen set the pace during the morning session, Coulthard came back to take the upper hand at the end of the day less than two tenths out front with a benchmark time of 1m13.353s.
While McLaren continued to settle into its development work with new tyre supplier Michelin, the French company's lead team from last year Williams had a less fruitful day.
Despite going third fastest, Juan Pablo Montoya was forced to return to the pits after his Williams FW23, which was sporting the team's all-new BMW engine, caught fire. To compound matters, the Colombian's car was forced to return to the pits on a trailer at the very end of the day after suspected power steering failure left it stranded out on the track.
The Renault team continued to shine with Jenson Button taking fourth spot and new team mate Jarno Trulli finishing sixth. Separating the duo was former Benetton man Giancarlo Fisichella, who racked up a mammoth 93 laps in his Jordan-Honda.
Behind Williams tester Antonio Pizzonia, came Takuma Sato in eighth place. After a brief spin before lunch, the young Jordan recruit continued his pirouetting antics into the afternoon by beaching his EJ11 at turn 6.
The only 2002-spec cars present were Pedro de la Rosa's Jaguar in ninth and Mika Salo's Toyota rounding out the top 10. Eddie Irvine stopped the clocks more than three seconds clear of Coulthard's time in his interim R2C, with only the Minardis of Alex Yoong and Mateo Bobby behind him. Yoong spent much of the day evaluating new suspension parts and was also running the team's new gearbox.
Testing continues on Wednesday.
David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m13.353 47 laps
Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes M 1m13.510s 42 laps
Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m114.193 42 laps
Jenson Button Renault M 1m14.539s 64 laps
Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda B 1m14.596s 93 laps
Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m14.778s 55 laps
Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW M 1m14.946s 38 laps
Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda B 1m15.810s 82 laps
Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar* M 1m15.915s 44 laps
Mika Salo Toyota* M 1m15.973s 51 laps
Eddie Irvine Jaguar M 1m16.758s 5 laps
Alex Yoong Minardi-European M 1m19.303s 39 laps
Mateo Bobbi Minardi-European M 1m21.069s 16 laps
M - Michelin
B - Bridgestone
* - 2002 car
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