McLaren dominate testing in Spain

McLaren continued to dominate Formula One testing at the Valencia circuit in Spain today as David Coulthard topped the timesheets…

McLaren continued to dominate Formula One testing at the Valencia circuit in Spain today as David Coulthard topped the timesheets.

Coulthard's team mate Mika Hakkinen was quickest yesterday while McLaren test-driver Alexander Wurz was on top on Tuesday.

The times are a boost to McLaren, who have been testing their traction control system after it failed Coulthard at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

Coulthard was the busiest man out on track and set a fastest lap time of one minute and 13.598 seconds after completing 106 laps.

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Jaguar driver Eddie Irvine was less than three-tenths off the pace in second place in warm and sunny conditions, only briefly interrupted with some light drizzle after the lunch break.

San Marino Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher focused on tyre development and traction control ahead of the next round in Austria next week. The German was third quickest for Williams, with team mate Juan Pablo Montoya fifth fastest.

Wurz stood in for two-time world champion Hakkinen and was fourth fastest for McLaren. The Michelin-shod teams - Jaguar, Prost, Benetton and Williams - will continue testing during a behind-closed-doors session tomorrow. Their plan is to artificially wet the track in order to develop their wet-tyre set-ups.

At Silverstone, Frenchman Olivier Panis set the fastest time during the final day of testing at the English circuit. The British American Racing driver was more than a tenth of a second quicker than Jordan's Jarno Trulli.

Panis was the fastest driver for the second day in succession in dry conditions. At Fiorano in Italy, Ferrari continued work on their electronics as Rubens Barrichello and test-driver Luca Badoer began the day in cloudy conditions.

Brazilian Barrichello completed a total of 110 laps during the nine-hour session as he also worked on set-up and brakes.

Italian Badoer, who completed 84 laps and 14 practice starts, will continue at the wheel on Friday, when he will be joined by reigning world champion Michael Schumacher.