 FORMULA 1 |
French GP: Coulthard Tops Friday Practice
Magny-Cours, France, June 30 — McLaren’s David Coulthard, who seems to have the most momentum in the team this season, posted the fastest time in Friday practice for Sunday’s French Grand Prix, lapping the 2.64mi Magny-Cours circuit at 1:16.253/124.706mph to edge Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher.
Coulthard had mechanical troubles all day. He failed to post a time in the first hour-long session, then came out in the second for all of four minutes. That was long enough to post his fast lap, just before his engine expired.
Michael Schumacher, who seems to be closing in ever further on his first World Drivers Championship for Ferrari, led the first session with a 1:16.474, but – like many drivers – was unable to improve upon that time during the warmer second session. Likewise, Coulthard’s teammate Mika Hakkinen, who was second in the earlier session, failed to improve in the later session and wound up third for the day at 1:16.687.
Schumacher’s teammate Rubens Barrichello, who like Coulthard did not post a time in the first session, came back with a fourth-fastest 1:16.757, with Sauber’s Mika Salo coming in a surprising fifth at 1:17.371. Benetton’s Giancarlo Fisichella, Jordan’s Jarno Trulli, Prost’s Nick Heidfeld, Williams’ Ralf Schumacher (celebrating his 25th birthday today) and Trulli’s teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen completed the top 10.
The Jordan team was interesting to watch – or, more accurately, not watch – during the session. Like Coulthard and Barrichello, they failed to appear during the first session. In the second, Trulli hit the track about 20min in, and was done 30min later when he stalled while attempting a simulated standing start. Frentzen never left his garage until 44min into the second session. It may be that the team, which announced a long-term works engine deal with Honda yesterday, celebrated a bit too heavily last night.
Heidfeld’s performance seems to indicate an upturn in performance for the beleaguered Prost team, which is introducing a revised-spec Peugeot A20 engine at their home event this weekend. Heidfeld was third in the earlier session and unable to improve in the second, with teammate and crowd favorite Jean Alesi coming in 12th for the day.
Both sessions were surprisingly incident-free, with Eddie Irvine and Jacques Villeneuve visiting gravel traps and Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher and Villeneuve having non-contact spins to provide the only excitement.
Practice will resume on Saturday, with two 45min sessions starting at 9:00 a.m. local time (3:00 a.m. EDT) and 10:15 a.m. local (4:15 a.m. EDT). Qualifying will follow at 1:00 p.m. local time (7:00 a.m. EDT), and will be broadcast live, as always, on Speedvision.
Practice times, French Grand Prix, Friday session 2
Practice times, French Grand Prix, Friday session 1
— John Gardner, News Bureau Editor, RACER and Champ Car (Photo: www.f1picturenet.com)
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