Tuesday July 17th, 2001

The Sauber team kicked off on Tuesday a three-day test at the Valencia circuit in Spain, where the Swiss team will prepare for the Hungarian Grand Prix in August.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who continued with his impressive debut season by finishing fifth at the British Grand Prix last Sunday, was in charge of the testing duties for Sauber, the 21-year old concentrating on mechanical set-up for his Ferrari-powered C20.

In the afternoon, Raikkonen tested different Bridgestone tyre compounds and spun off the track when the session was about to end, damaging the nose of his car. He completed 58 laps around the Ricardo Tormo track with a best time of 1:15.690.

"The Hungaroring will be another new circuit for me, but thanks to our test work here in Valencia many of its characteristics are already familiar to me," said Raikkonen. "I'm still feeling great after our race at the weekend, and it was good having a track all to myself today.

"Unfortunately I went off the track at the seventh corner with only 15 minutes left, when the rear wheels locked up under braking, but we didn't do much damage."

Sauber will stay at Valencia until Thursday, while the British American Racing team, who will join the test on Wednesday, will work until Friday.

Published at 16:25:42 GMT