Barcelona test, day 2: Bruni flies

The Italian was again at the wheel of a Coloni Motorsport Lola, with Arden Team Russia, Nordic Racing and Team Astromega also continuing their evaluation of drivers for 2002.

Team boss Paolo Coloni was delighted with Bruni's performance over the two-day test. "I'm very happy because the team has proved a lot," he said. "Gianmaria's time was excellent for the conditions of the circuit."

With no official times given for the test, Bruni's quickest lap differed depending on which team you spoke to. Coloni reckoned he had managed a 1m31.5s, but Arden timed him at 1m31.6s. There was also some debate about Sebastien Bourdais' best lap for Arden, but according to the team he managed a 1m31.6s.

Team boss Christian Horner was impressed by the Frenchman. "He was extremely fast straight away," he said. "That time was the quickest we have ever gone around here, and he missed a gear on what would have been a fastest lap late in the day."

Ulsterman Richard Lyons continued to run with Coloni and the team reported to be very pleased with his progress. "Although he made a small mistake on his new tyres and didn't improve his time, the data showed he was bloody quick," said Coloni.

Warren Hughes continued to put mileage on Lola's new F3000 car, while Team Astromega packed up and went home early after a limited amount of running with Nicolas Kiesa.