Barcelona test: Sperafico leads the way

The Brazilian lapped the Spanish GP venue in 1m31.184s on Friday morning, well clear of Red Bull's Patrick Friesacher, whose best effort was 1m31.610s. Arden duo Townsend Bell and Bjorn Wirdheim were next up, both lapping in the low 1m32s bracket.

Bell, who was third fastest, said: "I have really enjoyed this circuit and it has surprised me how the track varies from the morning to the afternoon. We have completed full tank runs, practice starts and pit stop simulations and I am looking forward to making my [F3000] debut next weekend."

Rob Nguyen was an impressive fifth fastest for the BCN team, ahead of the second Red Bull car of Vitantonio Liuzzi. Former Stewart F1 racer Jan Magnussen drove in the test for the Den Bla Avis squad, and could race for the team in the season opener at Imola next weekend.


1 Ricardo Sperafico Coloni 1m31.184s
2 Patrick Friesacher Red Bull 1m31.610s
3 Townsend Bell Arden 1m32.191s
4 Bjorn Wirdheim Arden 1m32.314s
5 Rob Nguyen BCN F3000 1m32.647s
6 Vitantonio Liuzzi Red Bull 1m32.855s
7 Zsolt Baumgartner Coloni 1m32.875s
8 Tony Schmidt Astromega 1m32.894s
9 Yannick Schroeder PSM Charouz 1m33.011s
10 Jeffrey van Hooydonk Astromega 1m33.084s
11 Enrico Toccacelo SuperNova/Jordan Junior 1m33.101s
12 Nicolas Kiesa Den Bla Avis 1m33.238s
13 Derek Hill SuperNova/Jordan Junior 1m33.348s
14 Jaroslav Janis PSM Charouz 1m33.368s
15 Giorgio Pantano Durango 1m33.401s
16 Nicolas Minassian Brand 1m33.811s
17 Raffaele Gianmaria Durango 1m33.891s
18 Jan Magnussen Den Bla Avis 1m33.948s
19 Gary Paffett Brand 1m34.806s
20 Marcel Costa BCN 1m36.947s