Sunday February 13th, 2000

Arrows driver Pedro de la Rosa smashed during testing today the Barcelona lap record set in 1999, setting a time of 1:20.23 - some 0.31 secs faster than Rubens Barrichello's fastest lap, recorded exactly a year ago during testing. Also under the previous record was Sauber's Mika Salo, with a time of 1:20.33.

The Arrows team reported that de la Rosa's time was set on new tyres in ideal conditions during the morning. Pedro went onto run 40 laps during the day, including some longer runs. An electrical sensor problem did enforce an extended stop in the afternoon as the team had to remove the gearbox to rectify the problem.

Today's Times:

Pos  Driver       Team               Time     Laps
 1.  de la Rosa   Arrows-Supertec    1:20.23   40 
 2.  Salo         Sauber-Petronas    1:20.33   66 
 3.  Diniz        Sauber-Petronas    1:20.76   71 
 4.  Fisichella   Benetton-Playlife  1:21.21   90 
 5.  Hakkinen     McLaren-Mercedes   1:21.69   78 
 6.  Coulthard    McLaren-Mercedes   1:22.45   36 

The 1999 Barcelona lap record is 1:20.540 (R. Barrichello)