JANUARY 7, 2001

Major testing restarts tomorrow

THE first tests of the 2001 season will begin tomorrow at Jerez in southern Spain with Williams and Benetton both in action for three days. The teams will then go to Valencia for another three-day test between January 15-17 and then Williams will go to Barcelona for a huge 10-day test between January 22-31. This is expected to include the unveiling of the new car. Most of the teams are expected to have their new machinery arriving in the last week of January or the first week of February. Many of the tests will be split by tire companies but Michelin and Bridgestone runners will come together for several of the tests, notably in Valencia and Barcelona.

A test is being planned for South Africa in the middle of February but at the moment only Williams is expected to go to Kyalami. Last year the test was a waste of time because of bad weather in the region. The aim of the test is to give the team warm-weather testing prior to the start of the year in Melbourne, Malaysia and Brazil.