BAR, Jacques Villeneuve Test 98-01-13

Villeneuve Impresses Again In Spain

Barcelona, Spain, January 13, 1999 Jacques Villeneuve and his British American Racing Reynard-Supertec 01 took up where they left off last December by setting the second fastest time on the first day of a scheduled three-day Formula One test at the Circuit de Catalunya. In cool, dry conditions, the 1997 World Drivers' Champion put in 37 laps of the challenging, 4.726-km track. In the process, he recorded a lap of 1 min 23.8 secs, only 0.2 secs slower than the fastest time of the day set by Williams driver, Alex Zanardi. Villeneuve will handle all the driving duties this week, but is scheduled to be joined by team mate, Ricardo Zonta, in a second car at the next test, in Jerez, from January 23 to 25.

JACQUES VILLENEUVE

"There have not been any major problems today and I have been able to do a good number of laps. The car is quick and behaves well and, as a result, we have been able to do a lot of work today. The car responds pretty well now and we have started doing our first set-ups. I am very satisfied with the way things are going."

CRAIG POLLOCK, Managing Director, British American Racing

"For me, it's another little milestone - today has been the first day of testing for British American Racing's race team. There has been an outstanding improvement since our last testing session in December, and that reflects in the more-than-harmonious way we are all working together. The work that the team has accomplished today is very promising and I am extremely satisfied."

GREG FIELD, Team Manager, British American Racing

"It has been the most productive day we have had so far. We have completed more laps today than we did in the whole three-day session last December! We had a few small issues, but we managed to sort them out as they occurred. This evening, we'll fit a fresh engine and gearbox, and tomorrow we look forward to building on the good progress we have made today."

Unofficial times

Zanardi (Williams) 1:23.6

Villeneuve (British American Racing) 1:23.8

R Schumacher (Williams) 1:24.9

Takagi (Arrows) 1:25.3

de la Rosa (Arrows) 1:25.6

Panis (Prost) 1:25.8 Trulli (Prost) 1:25.9