September 27 - 29, 2002

Race Notes

Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda finished in the points for the second successive race in Indianapolis today where Jacques Villeneuve secured a crucial Championship point for the team. He sensed a top-6 finish was achievable from the off after a clash between the two Williams cars promoted him to 6th at the end of the opening lap. Jacques remained consistent and aggressive throughout the 73-lap race with a performance that always looked worthy of a points finish. Olivier's weekend never really recovered from a difficult start and after a slow getaway from the grid, he made the best of the situation to finish 12th today.

Jacques Villeneuve
"The team did a great job today, as they have all weekend. We picked up a very important point and really made the best of things in the race. I had been quite worried about grip so the tyres really dictated a two-stop strategy today. We made a few changes after warm-up this morning to try to counter any problems and the car actually worked well in the race. The track picked up grip but it was tough going for the first 6-10 laps after the pitstops. Once the fuel went down the tyres actually got better so it was easy to do some quick laps. We've been quite competitive here this weekend; I could drive the car aggressively and overtake. A good showing here means we should be better off in Suzuka so I'm optimistic about a good finish to the season."

Olivier Panis
"Looking on the positive side I have to say 'Congratulations' to Jacques. He drove a hard race to finish 6th and secured a very important point for the team. On the other hand, this has been a disappointing end to a difficult weekend for me. I had a very bad start and lost places into the first corner then had to follow slower cars until the first pitstop. We then suspected a mechanical problem and I couldn't really push as hard as I needed to, so I pitted early for my second stop. After that, we seemed to get over the problem and I could start pushing again but it was always going to be a struggle to recover. I have to put this weekend behind me now and hope for better things in Japan."

David Richards, Team Principal
"It's been a very positive weekend all round with Jacques making the very best of the car and the team doing a great job for him. Unfortunately it was a different story for Olivier. He suffered from a series of problems on Friday and, although there were occasions where he was able to show his true pace, I'm sure it's a weekend he'd rather put behind him. One extra point moves us one place further forward in the Championship and with the continued improvements that Honda are making, I'm very hopeful of a strong finish to the season in Suzuka."

BAR

Race Results

Warm-Up Times

Qualifying Notes

Jacques Villeneuve
"I'm very pleased with 7th. After yesterday's session I felt we had the potential to make the top 10 but we had a mechanical problem this morning which cost me practice time and I really didn't get enough running to feel too confident about qualifying. As it turned out, the car felt good from the start. We made changes with every run and steadily improved throughout the session. It looks like oversteer is going to be a big problem for a lot of drivers tomorrow though. The asphalt characteristic causes you to slide a lot and you use up all the grip very quickly, so we've got a lot of work to do on race set-up to make sure the tyres don't 'go away'. I don't know what kind of race it will be but I'll try hard and hopefully get into the points at the end of it."

Olivier Panis
"The tyres reacted differently in each of my runs this afternoon. I had major oversteer on my first run but I improved a lot on my second. Then I would have gone quicker again on my third run had I not been blocked on my quick lap. However, considering how the car has been all weekend, I can consider myself lucky to qualify 12th today."

David Richards, Team Principal
"Jacques did a great job to qualify 7th today after a difficult practice this morning. He steadily improved throughout the session and starts tomorrow's race from his best grid position this season. Olivier was less lucky. His session started well but he lost out to traffic and suffered with major oversteer on his quickest runs. We still have some work to do to optimise our race set-up but we have a very good chance of securing another points finish tomorrow."

Saturday Practice Times

Friday Practice Notes

Jacques Villeneuve
"We got off to quite a slow start today because the track was still drying at the beginning of the session. The infield section here is hardly used so the asphalt is always very slippery. We were struggling to find rear grip throughout the session but we did quite a few runs to try different things and basically just worked through the problem.

"I managed to get one good lap on new tyres before it got too slippery. Last year's race wasn't very good for us so I'm pleased we've got off to a good start today. During the last few races we've frequently been the best of the Bridgestone runners after Ferrari and our qualifying has been improving so let's hope we can carry today's progress through to the race on Sunday."

Olivier Panis
"During both sessions I suffered from massive oversteer. We tried to find different solutions but nothing seemed to work. I think we will have to strip the car down completely in order to see if we don't have a more fundamental problem that we cannot see on the data. I think there is a lot of work to be done this afternoon."

David Richards, Team Principal
"Jacques had a very positive session so our main concern is getting the best out of Olivier's car for tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do this afternoon to find the problem and try to bring him higher up the grid in the qualifying session."

JV's Lap of Indy

Turn 1 - "Down the main straight and over the strip of bricks on the finish line. It's very fast, very long and bumpy as hell.

"When you reach the breaking point for Turn 1, you can't see anything. The car is bottoming and you are just bouncing along. We are doing about 200mph at this point. The wall is on your left and you hit the brake pedal just past the 100-metre board. The reason you can brake so late is because the track is very wide and you brake while turning in.

"It's very difficult to see the apex of this corner because we site very low in the cars and the inside kerb has tarmac either side. If there was grass on the inside, you'd see it but, as it is, there is nothing to suggest that there is a corner coming. This makes it very difficult to overtake here.

"From entrance to apex you are travelling relatively quickly, but slowing all the time for what is in fact quite a slow corner - only about 75mph.

"Once you've hit the apex you stamp on the gas because the exit of the corner is quite easy."

Turns 2 & 3 - "Turn 2 is quite slow, but your line through it is crucial to Turn 3. You don't want to do let the car go too far to the right, otherwise you will compromise your turn-in for Turn 3, for which you brake while you are turning.

"It's hard to set the car up for this series of bends because, normally, I like to brake in a straight line and I don't need the front of the car to be very supportive.

"But here I do. It's faster than turn one, maybe around 87mph.

"Also, like Turn 1, it's difficult to see where you are, and where to turn in. For several laps at the beginning of the grand prix weekend you miss the apex here by a metre, but once you get it right, it's easy."

Turns 4 & 5 - "Turn 4 is a flat-out kink. With traction control it's not even a corner. You try to keep the car as tight as possible because, if you are too far to the left, then you have to bring the car back to the right while braking for Turn 5 at the same time. That's very, very difficult. The exit of five is tighter than the entrance, so you brake while turning in, trying not to slide the car too much. You really want to keep the car as tight as you possibly can."

Turns 6,7 & 8 - "This section is as boring as boring can be - you feel like you are on a go-kart track. It's not for F1 cars, and it's really not fun. The corners run into each other and it's all second gear. You just try to keep the car as tight as possible. It's easy to make a mistake at Turn 7 and then get overtaken into Turn 8. While it may not be enjoyable to drive, it's a difficult section to do properly."

Turns 9, 10 and 11 - "There is a small straight section leading into Turn 9, but it's not high-speed. It's yet another second-gear corner on the Indy circuit and not that interesting at all. If you run too wide on the exit, then you will screw up the hairpin at Turn 10 where, if anything, it's better to carry more speed in, that to aim for a really fast exit. Having said that, you don't want to run too wide and mess up you line through here, otherwise you'll be too slow into Turn 11.

"A lot of time can be made up and lost through these slow corners, but you can't do much about them. You can lose a lot of time, rather than gain time. They are technical but very boring."

Turn 12 - "This is another corner that is hard to see, for the same reason as Turn 1 and Turn 3. There is asphalt on both sides of the kerb. You brake from memory because it's only once you've turned in that you can spot the apex and find out whet her you've got it right. If you haven't it can be too late."

Turn 13 - "Before we had traction control, and in the wet, this corner could be quite hairy. With TC however it's easy flat - even in the wet. You need to be quite quick here as the long straight follows, where you can get a run at people. You're flat-out through the gears. Easy."

BAR Race Preview

Following an intensive period of testing in Spain this week, Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda now head to the United States for the penultimate race of the 2002 Formula One World Championship.

The host city of Indianapolis, capital of the corn-belt state of Indiana situated approximately four hours' drive south of Chicago, is synonymous with one thing - motor racing. The famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the home of the legendary Indy 500 race and has hosted the Formula One race since the purpose-built infield circuit was opened in 2000.

With the focus of the design team and factory build staff now firmly on next year's car, B.A.R will still be looking to boost their 2002 points tally in the remaining two races. A three-day test in Barcelona (18-20 September) saw both race drivers and test driver Anthony Davidson exploring tyre and aerodynamic configurations for Indy. They were also putting mileage on the latest evolution of the Honda engine, which will be used on all three days at the next race.

In the tightest turnaround period of the season, the race cars returned from Monza to B.A.R headquarters in Brackley at noon on Tuesday 15 September. They were stripped, painted, rebuilt, packed into bespoke pallets and back en route to Heathrow on the morning of Friday 19 September. Collectively, the teams take enough paraphernalia to fill two Boeing 747s, which are chartered by Formula One Management. The freight is flown directly to Indianapolis and after clearing customs it will be transported to the track by the FOM for delivery on Monday morning. The cost of transporting everything to the racetrack averages $50 per kilogram of cargo and B.A.R alone are taking 22 tonnes!

Jacques Villeneuve finished in the points at the inaugural race in 2000. Last year, his race came to an abrupt end on lap 45 when the team chose to retire his BAR003 as a precaution following a collision with Pedro de la Rosa. Olivier Panis finish the race in 11th place. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a challenge that both drivers relish so they'll be looking for a better result next weekend.

Jacques on the United States Grand Prix
"The F1 circuit in Indianapolis isn't a bad track, although I feel it's not as good as it could be. If I'd designed it I'd have used both straights on the oval, not just one of them. However, circuit design isn't my job! Sometimes I wonder how a Formula 1 car would behave on the oval itself. First, we'd need different tyres than the ones we currently use, and we'd have to change the set-up a lot. If you did all that, then I reckon it would be easy to go flat for the entire lap. We'd definitely be faster than a current Indy Racing League car. Sadly I doubt we'll ever get the chance to find out!"

"We had a lot of fun the first year that we raced at Indy, in 2000, because no one knew how to set up the cars. It was a circuit that we had never tested or raced at before. Since then, it's been much easier because we can now hone the cars pretty quickly. There's usually some close racing because the race is at the end of the season."

"It's nice to go to Indianapolis after Europe. It's enjoyable to race there - mostly because of all the American fans. The atmosphere outside the paddock is great."

Olivier Panis on the United States Grand Prix
"The part of the track that we run on in Indy is not used often, so the surface doesn't have much grip. This can make things particularly difficult if the car is oversteering. We have to find a compromise between running enough wing to give us some grip on the tight infield section and still being quick enough on the straight to be able to overtake if necessary."

"We have been working hard in Barcelona over the last week to find the best set-up, so I hope we will be able to make the best of the package that we have. After scoring a point in Monza, I know that we have the potential to do well in the last two races."

David Richards, Team Principal
"Monza saw another small and very welcome step forward for B.A.R thanks to the latest evolution of the engine. Honda have been working extremely hard to continue development at a time when many other manufacturers have switched focus to next year."

"The team have done a great job this week, testing at two different venues and turning the cars around in such a short space of time. We have made good progress in preparation for this race and hope to maintain the momentum of a successful weekend in Monza."

"Indianapolis is like a second home race for Jacques, and Olivier will be buoyed by his excellent points- finish in Italy, so we're optimistic for the weekend ahead."

The Circuit

Race Distance - 73 Laps. 190.139 miles (306.016 km)
Circuit Length - 2.605 miles (4.192 km)

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the second oldest motor-racing venue currently in use, but the new 2,605-mile road course that snakes through the infield and utilises part of the fabled Indianapolis oval was only built in 2000.

Tony George, head of the Speedway Corporation and a descendent of the Hulman family that has steered the fortunes of the historic American track, pulled out all the stops to create a world-class racing circuit that could provide a permanent home for the US Grand Prix. In pursuit of that goal, he made radical changes to the original Speedway by demolishing buildings, erecting a new pit complex and grandstands, and building today's challenging road course.

Overtaking is much easier at Indianapolis than most tracks, with clear passing opportunities into Turn 1 and Turn 8, both second-gear corners preceded by long straights. The slowest part of the track is the 40 mph Turn 8, the first part of an extremely tight S-bend, while the fastest is Turn 13.