FORMULA ONE: BAR Honda lays foundation for strong weekend
29 July 2000
FIA Formula 1 World Championship - Round 11 German Grand Prix, Hockenheim Friday Free Practice BAR HONDA LAYS FOUNDATION FOR STRONG WEEKEND Friday 28 July 2000 Jacques Villeneuve and Ricardo Zonta enjoyed a productive first day of Free Practice for Sunday's German Grand Prix, as speeds around the 6.825km Hockenheim circuit exceeded 350km/h (215mph). Running minimal amounts of rear wing to maximise the straight-line performance around this super-fast track, Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda concentrated on finding a good set-up for this weekend's activity. Jacques Villeneuve, who confirmed his commitment to BAR Honda earlier this week in a three year deal, systematically conditioned himself to the requirements of the circuit during today's sessions. He gradually increased his pace during the morning session, ran with wet settings after a mid-afternoon shower and took advantage of a drying track to confirm earlier progress. Ricardo Zonta was among the front-runners from the early part of the day, the Brazilian continuing the progress he made last time out in Austria. Zonta will be hoping to repeat his best ever qualifying performance of sixth tomorrow. Ricardo Zonta Position: 7th 1min 44.906sec "It's been a good day. We ran lots of laps and tried many things. We also had a chance to try both wet and dry set-ups and the car was quite fast. I'm happy with today's work and although you never know what the others are doing, I think we're in good shape for tomorrow." Jacques Villeneuve Position: 8th 1min 44.985sec "We didn't do many laps in the morning as we had a problem with one front of the wishbones. We just did a few laps at the end and the car was really good - it was quick. We made some changes for the afternoon; it rained, but the car seemed OK in the wet. As soon as it dried we were pretty competitive right away." Takefumi Hosaka - Managing Director, Honda R&D "Overall we have had a good day, but we would have wished to be a little closer to the top teams than we are. This circuit is very tough on engines because of the length of the straights and the stop-and-go layout. We must be careful with our performance throughout the weekend, but we had no problems with the engine today." Jordan Mugen Honda showed excellent early weekend pace. Heinz-Harald Frentzen set the second fastest time of the day, crossing the start-finish line just seconds before the chequered flag came down to end the session. Jarno Trulli recovered well after losing much of the first session and finished sixth.