Testing continues for both Honda-powered teams

Testing continues for both Honda-powered teams

Following a successful first test for both Honda-powered teams in
Barcelona last week, Jordan Honda completed a productive three-day test in
Valencia yesterday (Thursday) while Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda began a
four-day test at the Spanish circuit.

Jordan Honda’s Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato were both on hand to
test last season’s Jordan Honda EJ11s. Dry and sunny conditions enabled
the drivers to complete a combined total of 570 laps over the three days.
Despite limited running time due to a minor problem with the car,
Fisichella recorded the second fastest time overall of 1m12.78s on the
final day. In the meantime Sato continued to familiarise himself with the
Valencia circuit and posted a best lap of 1m13.52s placing him fourth
overall. The Jordan Honda test team has now returned to the UK to prepare
for a three-day test at Silverstone, which starts on 22 January.

The second B.A.R Honda 004 chassis arrived in Valencia yesterday, enabling
Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis to take to the track in 2002-spec
cars. Both drivers concentrated their efforts on chassis set-up work while
also putting useful mileage on the new specification Honda RA002E engine.
Panis set the second fastest time today (Friday), recording a 1m13.762s
lap while Villeneuve posted a best lap of 1m14.032s, fourth fastest of the
day. They were supported by Anthony Davidson, who carried out work on an
engine and brake development programme in last year’s car, the B.A.R Honda
003.

BAR Honda’s new test driver Ryo Fukuda arrived in Valencia today (Friday)
to prepare for his first outing with the team on Saturday and Sunday. The
young Japanese driver, who captured the French Formula Three Championship
in 2001, will be behind the wheel of the B.A.R Honda 003. 

Shuhei Nakamoto, Race and Test Team Manager, Honda Racing Development
commented: “The main objective for our second week of testing was to run
as many more laps as possible with both our partner teams, and we have
been able to achieve that. We have also tried a new engine management
system with both teams, and this has been introduced without any major
problem. Running in Valencia has enabled us to gather data on the engine
on a tight circuit with slow corners. With last week’s data from
Barcelona, with its many high speed corners and long straight, we now have
a good mix of data which will be very useful in developing the engine.”

Giancarlo Fisichella, Jordan Honda, said: “I’m very happy and really
surprised from both Barcelona and Valencia tests with respect to the Honda
engine. Driveability, power and torque gave me a lot of fun during the
tests. I’m really looking forward to the new 2002 engine, which is
supposed to be even better than this one.”

Takuma Sato, Jordan Honda, commented: "I have had a very good test at
Valencia and made a lot of progress with the car and working with the
team. We managed to find a lot of speed by trying different suspension and
brake set ups, and it is important to develop the working understanding
with my engineer. I think we are working well as a team and cannot wait
for the new car to be ready. This track is very physical so I am happy
that I did not get tired at all even though we did over 1100km which is
roughly four Grand Prix race distances!”

Olivier Panis, B.A.R Honda, is feeling positive: “We had a good first day
and I managed to put in a lot of laps. We made our first race distance in
Barcelona and the car seems to be going well here in Valencia also. We
hope to improve the balance a little more tomorrow and we’re obviously
waiting for some new parts prior to Melbourne but I have a good feeling
about the car mechanically and I’m really positive, just the same as in
Barcelona.”

Jacques Villeneuve B.A.R Honda, reflected: “Mechanically, the car works
much better than last year. It reacts to changes so that’s good and it
feels good to drive. We just need to wait until we get the Melbourne
aerodynamic package to see how fast we’re really going to go.”

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