CONCLUSIVE TEST PAVES WAY FORWARD

Mark Webber, the lead driver for the Arrows Formula 3000 team, European Formula Racing, emerged sixth fastest in the opening session of last week's official test for the 2000 FIA Formula 3000 International Championship, held at Jerez, Spain last Thursday and Friday (January 27/28).

The 23-year old Australian lapped the 2.62-mile circuit in a best time of 1min 35.143s before commencing an extensive test and development programme over the remaining sessions. "Because the F3000 championship doesn't visit Jerez, it made better sense for us to use this particular test to work on changes to the car and set-up rather than chase lap times," commented team boss, Paul Stoddart. "We also introduced a new engineer to the team at the test so it was a good opportunity for him to gather data and information so we can move the team forward this season. It was a very conclusive test for us."

Like several other teams, European Formula Racing remained at Jerez for a private test session on Saturday when Webber was able to put into effect the work from the previous two days by eclipsing his previous best with a 1min 33.30s, a time which would have placed him fifth overall in the official test.

"It's very easy to be influenced by lap times at these official tests," said Webber, "and it's only natural for us to want to do the best we can in each session lap-time wise. But sometimes, you need to make some sacrifices in order to collect the correct data for the future."

The team also tested young Dutchman, Christijan Albers over the three days. The reigning German Formula 3 champion suffered a gearbox problem on Thursday which limited his run to only 11 laps but the 20-year old had a much better day on Friday, ending the final session ninth fastest with a time of 1min 35.129s. "It was a shame I couldn't run on Thursday because of the problem we had," said Albers, "but the team made everything okay and fitted a new gearbox for the next day. I didn't do a lot of running on Friday but my laps went well."

Albers also set a quicker time on Saturday, improving to a 1min 33.7s after experimenting with car set-up, which put the youngster third fastest on the day behind pace setter Darren Manning and Webber. "We tried a few different changes to the car and the impression is really good," commented Albers.

The next official FIA Formula 3000 test will be held at Valencia, Spain on February 22/23.