Williams Outpace Ferrari at Imola - Day Two

German Williams driver Ralf Schumacher outpaced his brother Michael on their first day of testing at the Imola circuit in Italy.

Today was the first time that World Champions Ferrari tested their new F2004 chassis on the same track as their rivals. Ralf finished on top of the timesheets in today's session, which took place in very cold conditions and which was hampered by rain in the afternoon.

Ralf, driving the new FW26 car, finished less than a tenth of a second ahead of his brother, who was the only other driver who managed to lap Imola in less than 82 seconds. Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was third quickest in last year's Ferrari F2003-GA.

"Today Ralf concentrated on final set-up work in preparation for Melbourne," explained Williams's chief operations engineer Sam Michael. "He also ran the new Michelin dry tyre for Imola which is a useful step forwards.

"The session was hit by rain in the afternoon, so Ralf spent the time evaluating different Michelin wet tyres and completing further systems checks for the first race."

McLaren were also in action with their 2004 challenger, as the top three teams tested their new cars for the first time on the same circuit. Scot David Coulthard was the man in charge of testing duties, and he finished fourth fastest almost 1.5 seconds off Ralf's pace.

Toyota drivers Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta were also in action at Imola as the Japanese squad prepare for the Australian Grand Prix. Panis was the quickest of the two, while da Matta finished at the bottom of the times, more than five seconds off the pace.

Testing resumes tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:21.828 57 2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:21.918 33 3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:22.575 27 4. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:23.221 40 5. Panis Toyota (M) 1:24.558 38 6. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:27.004 21 All Timing Unofficial

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