Minardi progress continues at Monza.

The European Minardi team enjoyed its second full day of testing at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza yesterday, as regular driver Fernando Alonso concentrated on running the latest version of the PS01 chassis.

The uprated car, fitted with new gearbox, rear suspension and extensively revised aerodynamic package, continued to prove troublesome for the tiny Anglo-Italian team, but both Alonso and the technical crew were confident that the modifications were a step in the right direction.

Alonso managed a total of only 24 laps during the day, the result of recurring teething problems with the new technical package. These forced him to the garage for repairs on several occasions, although his fastest lap was a respectable 1min 28.490secs.

Alex Yoong, meanwhile, continued to amass laps in a current-specification chassis as part of his Formula One familiarisation programme.

After an early morning shower that briefly delayed proceedings, the 24-year old Malaysian rattled off 19 circuits of the 5.770km Monza track before the lunch break, and registered a competitive time of 1min 28.568secs with the car in race trim - the twelfth-fastest lap of the session. There followed a further 22 laps in the afternoon, before his efforts were unfortunately brought to a premature conclusion by an engine problem just as he was due to be sent out with a fresh set of tyres and reduced fuel load.

"It has been a good day," Yoong commented, "I understand the car better, which gives me the confidence to push harder. We tried some different suspension settings today and made good progress with the overall balance. The biggest area where I am still losing time is under braking but, after the last set-up change this afternoon, the car felt really good, and I was quite confident of getting down to a 1min 27.5sec lap on my next run.

"Unfortunately, a problem with the engine prevented me from doing any more running. This has been a useful test and we have come a considerable distance from where we started, at Mugello, two weeks ago."

European Minardi F1 team principal, Paul Stoddart, also expressed satisfaction with the progress his team had made in the course of the Monza test.

"The important thing is that we've learned a lot over the past two days," he said, "Fernando didn't get as much running time as we had planned because of some glitches with the new gearbox and associated mechanical package, but now we understand the problems and can effect the necessary solutions quickly.

"Alex had another productive day, building up his bank of Formula One experience and continuing to go progressively quicker without making mistakes. He worked with his engineer on chassis set-up changes and also did some practice starts for the first time today. He has covered 515 kms over the two days here and I'm genuinely pleased with his performance."