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Jacques Villeneuve was full of praise for the new BAR
004 after his first run in the car at Barcelona testing on
Wednesday.
 The French-Canadian reckons the new chassis is a big step forward
from last season's 003. And he believes the team has only scratched
the surface of the car's potential.
He said: "The car has definitely improved and there's a lot
more still to come. Also, the engine is still in its infancy so
there's a lot more to come from that as well.
 "There's good reason to be positive though. This year, the
mechanical side of the car feels much better. The rear is a lot more
stable, and in high speeds the car seems to be more stable as well.
"As this is just a first preliminary test there will be some
more changes for the next test so I'll be back in the car then.
"We knew there was going to be a big difference in the car
this year and so it's nice to get in it and see those improvements.
The car feels good so I'm feeling positive."
Villeneuve ran 43 laps in the new car, posting a fastest lap of
1m22.817s.
 Engineering director Malcolm Oastler promised the car would get
even quicker when more miles had been put on the clock.
He explained: "Jacques has been here for today to try out
the car and give us his initial feedback, which has been very
positive. So far he's happy with the changes we've made.
"We're running a very preliminary spec with the car and
engine here this week though so Jacques is happy to wait until next
week in Valencia to test the car further."
Olivier Panis was also on duty, completing 42 laps in the 003
chassis. The Frenchman, who was working on aerodynamics, posted a
best lap of 1m22.790s.
Wednesday marked the mid-point of the Barcelona test. Chief
engineer Steve Farrell was happy with the way things were
progressing for the team.
 He said: "Today was the first opportunity for Jacques to
have a run in the new car. The weather was not particularly
favourable but he was able to do some laps in the dry, during which
time he confirmed Olivier's optimistic feedback from Monday.
"Olivier has been in the BAR003 today, continuing with some
of the aerodynamic testing started by Anthony earlier in the week.
Again we were somewhat interrupted by the weather but we've made
some good progress nonetheless."
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