MAY 30, 2001

Illness hits testing

ILLNESS hit the Formula One circuit on Wednesday as two drivers were forced to leave testing due to feeling unwell.

Ralf Schumacher was forced to cut his three-day test for Williams short due to a sore throat, while Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen was also unwell, still feeling the effects of his heavy crash in the tunnel at Monaco.

Schumacher had set the fastest ever lap around the French circuit on Tuesday and after continuing his impressive performance he was disappointed to have to stop.

"Unluckily I have had to stop earlier than planned due to a sore throat," he said. "But I am very happy with both days. It has been a very positive test."

Riccardo Zonta borrowed Frentzen's jet and flew back to the circuit in time to join Jarno Trulli and complete the rest of the day's testing.

Schumacher finished the day a tenth of a second faster than the quickest Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello as his team-mate tested at Monza in Italy.

Elder brother Michael Schumacher was nearly three tenths off in third while McLaren's David Coulthard failed to put a difficult Monaco Grand Prix behind him and ended sixth, half a second down.

Eddie Irvine's Jaguar continued to run well as the team continued to hone its new aerodynamic package, and he was very close to the elder Schumacher's time in fourth.

Jarno Trulli ran the most laps of the day, clocking up a century on his way to 10th fastest time, four tenths down on BAR's Jacques Villeneuve.

Jenson Button continued to struggle at Benetton, despite the team putting in a promising performance at the Monaco race.

Button finished the day three from bottom but was pleased to have a helping hand after the team fitted power steering to the car for the first time.

MAGNY-COURS TEST - WEDNESDAY, 30 MAY 2001

POS

DRIVER ENTRANT TIME

1.

RALF SCHUMACHER Williams-BMW 1:15.255

2.

RUBENS BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1:15.385

3.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1:15.529

4.

EDDIE IRVINE Jaguar 1:15.573

5.

OLIVIER PANIS BAR-Honda 1:15.687

6.

DAVID COULTHARD McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.779

7.

RICARDO ZONTA Jordan-Honda 1:15.836

8.

PEDRO DE LA ROSA Jaguar 1:15.906

9.

JACQUES VILLENUEVE BAR-Honda 1:16.016

10.

JARNO TRULLI Jordan-Honda 1:16.418

11.

LUCIANO BURTI Prost-Acer 1:16.795

12.

JOS VERSTAPPEN Arrows-Asiatech 1:16.924

13.

JENSON BUTTON Benetton-Renault 1:17.034

14.

HEINZ-HARALD FRENTZEN Jordan-Honda 1:17.195

15.

ENRIQUE BERNOLDI Arrows-Asiatech 1:17.352