The Temple of VTEC - Honda and Acura Enthusiasts Online - Articles - HondaF1 Monaco Free Practice: Free Practice Thursday

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Author

Zpeed

Categories

Race Reports

Create Date

May 23, 2002 16:47

Last Update

June 06, 2002 16:35

Free Practice Thursday

The race weekend has started, and we're all looking forward to some more results for both teams. Luckily enough the free practice looked pretty good, though "it's only friday" is something we hear a lot in the paddock!

From the press releases:

Giancarlo Fisichella (DHL Jordan Honda) was the leading Honda-powered driver in today's free practice for the Monaco Grand Prix this Sunday, with the fourth fastest time. Oliver Panis and Jacques Villenueve (Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda) were 12th and 14th fastest respectively while Jordan Honda's Takuma Sato ended the day 17th.

Jordan Honda's Giancarlo Fisichella completed three laps in the first session before slowing out on track with a gear selection problem. The Italian driver was not permitted to continue running after the marshals pushed him into the pits. Fisichella went on to complete a further 21 laps in the afternoon and set the fourth fastest time overall of 1m19.680s. His Jordan Honda team-mate Takuma Sato completed 21 laps in the morning and set a best time of 1m25.032. Sato completed a further 18 laps in the second session and set the 17th fastest time overall of 1m21.868s, improving on his initial time by just over three seconds. The Japanese driver had a suspension problem towards the end of the second session and was therefore unable to complete any further laps.

B.A.R Honda's Olivier Panis completed 62 laps in today's free practice, dividing them equally between the first and second sessions, and set a best lap and seventh fastest time of the morning of 1m22.711s. In the afternoon the Frenchman improved on his initial time by almost two seconds, setting a best lap and 12th fastest time overall of 1m20.887s. His B.A.R Honda team-mate Jacques Villeneuve completed 30 laps in the morning and a further 30 laps in the afternoon, setting the 14th fastest time overall of 1m21.086s, improving on his initial time by one and a half seconds.

The conditions remained overcast in Monaco as Renault's Jarno Trulli set the pace, followed by Toyota's Allan McNish. David Coulthard (McLaren) and Jordan Honda's Giancarlo Fisichella recorded the third and fourth fastest times while Mika Salo (Toyota) and Ralf Schumacher (Williams) complete the top six positions.

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