Thursday April 27th, 2000
Michael Schumacher was again fastest on the third day of testing in Barcelona today.
Schumacher and teammate Rubens Barrichello finished the day at the top of the times, and Schumacher was glad to see this. "I am very happy with what we have done today," said the German at the end of the day. "It has been a really positive test and I must say we have made a major step forward in the development of the car." Schumacher worked mainly on set-up, as well as doing some tyre testing, while Barrichello completed a race distance test. "Today's weather was pretty similar to what we had here for last year's race," said Barrichello. "The strong wind has contributed to our finding a better set up for next race weekend. All in all this has been a good day. Even though we did a trouble free GP distance, there is still much to be done to the set-up of the car for next week."
Heinz-Harald Frentzen was third fastest for the Jordan team, working on tyre testing but suffering a wheel bearing failure. A new gear rack system has been installed in the gearbox to cure recent gearbox/electrical problems, and it seems to have fixed the recent problems the team has suffered. Meanwhile Jarno Trulli tested with a heavy fuel load, concentrating on race set up.
Testing at Barcelona will continue tomorrow.
Today's times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari 1:20.866 97
2. Barrichello Ferrari 1:21.496 97
3. Frentzen Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:21.681 65
4. de la Rosa Arrows-Supertec 1:21.805 114
5. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.821 110
6. Herbert Jaguar-Cosworth 1:21.985 90
7. Panis McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.390 69
8. Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:22.515 38
9. Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:22.539 39
10. Salo Sauber-Petronas 1:22.631 76
11. Trulli Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:23.381 49
12. Button Williams-BMW 1:23.574 36
13. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:23.632 45
14. Alesi Prost-Peugeot 1:24.441 42
15. Heidfeld Prost-Peugeot 1:24.811 47
16. Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:24.872 7
17. Burti Jaguar-Cosworth 1:25.289 5
The 2000 fastest testing time is 1:19.633 (P. de la Rosa)
The 1999 fastest testing time is 1:20.591 (R. Barrichello)