Friday July 6th, 2001

Williams and Benetton concluded their four-day testing at Barcelona today, with Benetton's test driver Mark Webber edging Williams's Marc Gene for the fastest time of the day by more than two seconds.

Both teams concentrated on wet weather tyre testing, and the Catalunya circuit was flooded with water to simulate wet weather conditions. "Knowing this area as I do," Gene commented at the end of the day, "I thought today's logistics were remarkable. It is not easy to create the conditions for a proper wet test in Spain in July, so I have to congratulate the team, Michelin and the circuit in simulating wet weather conditions today."

Webber set a time of 1:36.154 after running for 90 laps; Gene set a time of 1:38.334 after running for 85 laps. They were the only drivers running.

Concluding the testing week, Williams test team manager Tim Newton said: "We've managed to record 1,400km this week, and aside from today's wet weather tyre testing, we have conducted a really useful mixed test and come away with new information about the traction control system, the engine and the chassis. All in all, it’s been a productive week, and it should pay dividends on the race track."

Today's times:

Pos  Driver  Team-Engine            Time      Laps
 1.  Webber  Benetton-Renault  (M)  1:36.154  90  
 2.  Gene    Williams-BMW      (M)  1:38.334  85  

All Timing Unofficial

Published at 17:26:24 GMT