Today, the team of Honda tested for ...

Published on 23 January 1999 by Verstappen Info Page

Today, the team of Honda tested for the first time in combination with other teams on the circuit of Jerez. The track was wet during the morning and started to dry later in the afternoon when the sun started to shine, therefor the faster laps were driven at the end of the day. The Honda team dominated the test since Jos Verstappen was by far fastest of the day in 1:26.580 driving a total of 30 laps, followed by Jacques Villeneuve in 1:27.620 (36 laps) and Fisichella in 1:28.962 (25 laps). The Honda team is pleased with the performance of the car which gives good indication. Zonta did his first laps in the new BAR car and set a time of 1:29.004, 0.1 seconds faster then Alexander Wurz with 1:29.116 (28 laps) in the Benetton. Wurz spun at the end of the session, causing an early finish of the day for all teams. Besides Honda, BA Racing and Benetton, the Stewart-Ford team was also present. Due to technical problems, both Rubens Barrichello and Johnny Herbert hardly did any laps and were therefor unable to drive below 1:30. Herbert was fastest of both drivers in 1:30.538 (16 laps) against Rubes Barrichello in 1:31.492 (20 laps).

Tomorrow, the test session will be continued. The weather forecast looks much better then today with sunny weather and 15 °C.