/ 15 February 2000

TESTING GOES AHEAD AT KYLAMI

DESPITE further delays due to rain, the Williams and British American Racing (BAR) teams managed to get down in earnest to Formula One testing at Kyalami on Monday. After a wet start, the sun broke through and the track dried out, allowing Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button to reel off 129 laps between them, with BAR’s Ricardo Zonta managing 70 laps. The teams are in South Africa for hot and dry weather testing, but unexpected heavy rains, which have caused severe flooding in parts of the country, have severely hampered their plans. Williams decided to wrap up their activities on Monday, but BAR extended their stay until Wednesday and could start approaching the fastest lap of 1min 20,964sec set by Schumacher in a test session at Kyalami last year.