Thursday October 4th, 2001

Austrian Alexander Wurz was quickest on the second day of testing at the Barcelona circuit in Spain, where the teams are carrying out their preparation work for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The session started on a wet track following the overnight rain in Barcelona, but eventually dried up throughout the day. McLaren's test driver Wurz completed 87 laps with the team's MP4-16 to finish ahead of Williams driver Ralf Schumacher, who took over from Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia today.

The Williams team, along with McLaren, were the only one to run with two cars, testing the new BMW engine in the morning session with Spanish test driver Marc Gene, who set the fourth quickest time as the Grove-based outfit continued with the development of the new power unit.

Jaguar's Eddie Irvine, who topped the timesheets on Wednesday, was third quickest after an eventful day. The Irishman went off the track in the morning, causing slight damage to his car, and again spun off in the afternoon, forcing the session to be red-flagged.

Australian Mark Webber was fifth fastest for the Benetton team, ahead of Swiss driver Marcel Fassler, who was driving for McLaren for the second time following his test at Silverstone last month.

The teams will continue testing at Barcelona tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine         Tyres  Time   
 1.  Wurz          McLaren-Mercedes    (B)    1:20.401
 2.  R.Schumacher  Williams-BMW        (M)    1:20.898
 3.  Irvine        Jaguar-Cosworth     (M)    1:20.932
 4.  Gene          Williams-BMW        (M)    1:21.178
 5.  Webber        Benetton-Renault    (M)    1:21.367
 6.  Fassler       McLaren-Mercedes    (B)    1:22.613

All Timing Unofficial

Published at 17:06:48 GMT