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Formula One: Stewart Ford Racing News, Japanese Grand Prix

30 October 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Weather: Sunny
(Ambient temperature 21-23 deg C, track temperature 29-330 deg C

Rubens Barrichello was fifth fastest in today's Free Practice for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. Johnny Herbert finished the session 20th.

RUBENS BARRICHELLO Car No.16 (SF3-04) Time: 1:42.529 Position: fifth 34 laps

What did you concentrate on today?

'Suzuka is such a complicated layout and you need to find a balance to make it work well through the Esses, the high speed corners and the chicane. You have to have the car working in harmony in all three areas so you tend to do a bit of juggling on the set-up. We made a big step forward on set-up towards the end of the second session. There is still some work to do and I'm confident that we are heading in the right direction.'

JOHNNY HERBERT Car No.17 (SF3-05)

Time: 1:44.179 Position: 20th 29 laps

Why were you only able to set the 20th fastest time today?

'I expected to make an improvement when I went out on new tyres at the end but the engine cut out and a sensor warning light came on. The car is very nervous at the rear and we tried several set up changes to try and calm it down. The track is quite dirty particularly at 130R. However looking at Rubens' time today I'm optimistic for tomorrow's qualifying.'

PAUL STEWART, Stewart-Ford Chief Operating Officer

'We made a lot of changes to set-up on both cars although we still haven't got it quite right yet. We are not too perturbed about Johnny's time because of the problem he had with his car on the new tyres. It was a typically busy Friday.'

TYRONE JOHNSON, Technical Manager

Ford Racing Research and Vehicle Technology

'Both cars were running Series 3 engines and we will continue using this specification tomorrow. A sensor on Johnny's car showed a fault causing the engine to cut out towards the end of the second session and even though he managed to re start and make it back to the garage it was too late for him to put in a quick time.'

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