Wurz Leads the Way at Valencia - Day One

McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz finished on top of the timesheets on the first day of testing at the Valencia circuit in Southern Spain, where three Formula One teams kicked off another session today.

Wurz continued working on the development of the MP4-17 and finished nearly more than half a second ahead of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in the Williams, on a sunny day that was hampered by strong winds that made the teams' work very difficult.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen, fastest in the morning session, finished as third fastest with the Sauber, the German concentrating on mechanical set-up with the Swiss squad's new C22 car. Frentzen suffered a mechanical problem at the end of the day, but he was nonetheless happy with his day's work.

"I was very pleased to set the fastest time this morning," said Frentzen. "We achieved a good mechanical set-up. Although the wind disturbed our progress today, the new Sauber Petronas C22 continued to give me a very good feeling. I stopped on my last lap this morning with an hydraulic leak but, apart from that, the car was very reliable."

Spaniard Marc Gene finished at the bottom of the times with the second Williams, the test driver completing the most laps today with 91.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:12.732 28 2. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:13.347 57 3. Frentzen Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:13.385 70 4. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:13.738 91 All Timing Unofficial

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