By Huw Alban
May 31 2002

OrangeArrows joined the major public test at Silverstone on Wednesday, with Enrique Bernoldi at the wheel. The team were hampered by the wet-dry conditions, but still managed to complete a healthy number of laps recording the ninth fastest time of the day. Day two of the big test at Silverstone dawned bright and sunny. The paddock was bustling because of the better weather, and this meant that the teams and drivers were busier too, trying to dodge the hordes of fans waiting to intercept them. David Coulthard may have avoided everyone and everything in Monaco, but he paid the price of popularity by signing hundreds of autographs.

Most of the pit garages were shut up before the start of the morning session today, although a number of the smaller doors were open, affording a sneaky look inside. Ferrari’s garage had a large collection of front wings and turning vanes stacked against the wall, while Renault didn’t even bother to hide their wares.

David Coulthard was the first driver to put in an installation lap, followed by almost everyone else. A quick look at the Arrows test car as it was being pushed back into the garage revealed that the team had taped a large number of small wires to the steering arms of the car. When back in the garage and jacked up, the Arrows mechanics immediately removed the nose cone and started working on that area of the car.

Eddie Irvine put in the first timed laps of the day about 15 minutes into the session. The Ulsterman only got about ten minutes of running time before the session was red flagged. Patrick Lemarié’s BAR had stopped on the circuit, which, he explained when he got back to the BAR garage, was a result of engine failure.

Just prior to this incident Rubens Barrichello got in an installation lap, but it was noted by all in the pit lane that his Ferrari engine smoked heavily as he toured back in.
Both Trulli and Button’s Renaults and David Coulthard were straight out once Lemarié’s car had been recovered. Shortly afterwards, Allan McNish attempted an installation lap and if you ever needed proof as to why teams do this Toyota produced it today. McNish’s car didn’t even complete the lap and he coasted into the pit lane entrance road and to a gradual halt. Mechanics from Toyota rushed down the pit road in order to push the car up to the garage.

The session was halted again just before 11am, this time for James Courtney’s Jaguar R3 to be recovered. When he came back to the garage he was very animated in his description of what happened, using his hands to help. When the car arrived back at the garages, it didn’t look too damaged and had a small collection of gravel in one of the turning vanes suggesting that he had gone off track. Once pushed back into his garage space, the shutters came down, and immediately the team started paying a lot of attention to the rear of the car, with Irvine even coming to have a look.

Even with the shutters down is was possible to get a side view of the car, and it appeared that the lower element of the rear wing had come loose as it was at an angle to the top one. Rear wing failures seem to be a feature for all the teams this season.

Both Renaults and Barrichello took to the track once the session had restarted.

The morning saw more stoppages, this time for Juan Pablo Montoya. The car was brought back on a low loader, which in turn was parked up in the lay-by at Priory when Williams mechanics started to secure a drape over it. With practically every car present at Silverstone on track, the session was stopped once more for the lorry to enter the pit lane to return the Williams car.

Enrique Bernoldi started the afternoon session, with the weather still bright and cheery, but dark clouds loomed on the horizon and this seemed to be a signal for a lot of drivers to take to the track. Allan McNish and Mika Salo made it out in their Toyotas, both the Renaults were circulating again, as was the Sauber of Felipe Massa. Kimi Räikkönen and Enrique enjoyed a quick game of ‘who goes first’ at Maggotts and Becketts, as each driver gave way to each other at each of the corners - confusing but very entertaining.

The threat of rain became reality at 2:30pm, but only lasted about five minutes, during which Eddie Irvine attempted an exploratory lap. Ten minutes later Jarno Trulli put in a single lap, but the track must have still been very damp as he really crawled around Club corner. A few minutes later the rain started again, although much heavier this time.

Rain featured heavily during the afternoon, with the clearest spell between 3 and 4pm. Ralf Schumacher was first out in his Williams on intermediate tyres while it was still raining and the only other driver to have a go was Jarno Trulli, but the most he tried was a two lap run.

During the clear hour Bernoldi put in another run of laps which really tested the limits of his A23, throwing the car deep into Stowe corner and braking desperately late for the Vale hairpin.

The rain showers returned at 4:03pm, causing Takuma Sato to saw wildly at the wheel of his Jordan on his way through the Abbey chicane. The track remained slippery from here right up until the end of the session, with Bernoldi getting caught out at the first corner at Abbey. He spun his car around so that it faced the wrong way down the track, but because his car was now blocking the corner moved forward to get out of the way.

In the meantime James Courtney had arrived at the corner and had to sweep past Bernoldi’s car - it was weird see two cars pass each other on a Grand Prix circuit when one is facing the wrong way down the track. Once Courtney was well clear Bernoldi performed a power spin, and he was on his way again.

The day ended with another stoppage, this time for Juan Montoya to be recovered. Tomorrow is the last day of this test - if you want to see your favourite team without paying Grand Prix prices then you’d better get down to Silverstone, but dress warmly and expect rain


Wednesday’s times from Silverstone:

01. Rubens Barrichello - Ferrari - 1:22.071 - 45 laps
02. Kimi Räikkönen - McLaren - 1:22.218 - 61 laps
03. David Coulthard - McLaren - 1:22.517 - 40 laps
04. Eddie Irvine - Jaguar - 1:23.108 - 26 laps
05. Ralf Schumacher - Williams - 1:23.178 - 55 laps
06. Jenson Button - Renault - 1:23.207 - 56 laps
07. Jarno Trulli - Renault - 1:23.416 - 34 laps
08. Jacques Villeneuve - BAR - 1:23.791 - 56 laps
09. Enrique Bernoldi - Arrows - 1:24.386 - 47 laps
10. Juan Pablo Montoya - Williams - 1:24.615 - 16 laps
11. Takuma Sato - Jordan - 1:24.743 - 17 laps
12. Felipe Massa - Sauber - 1:24.800 - 39 laps
13. Giancarlo Fisichella - Jordan - 1:25.042 - 24 laps
14. Allan McNish - Toyota - 1:25.450 - 20 laps
15. Mika Salo - Toyota - 1: 25.902 - 17 laps
16. Patrick Lemarié - BAR - 1:25.925 - 27 laps
17. Pedro de la Rosa - Jaguar - 1:26.657 - 7 laps
18. James Courtney - Jaguar - 1:28.630 - 29 laps