Fisichella heads Honda foursome.

Giancarlo Fisichella [Jordan-Honda] finished ninth fastest to head the Honda quartet in today's free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.

Jacques Villenueve [BAR-Honda], who will start his 100th grand prix on Sunday, recorded the 12th fastest time, followed by Takuma Sato [Jordan Honda] in 13th fastest position. BAR-Honda's Oliver Panis recorded the 18th fastest time overall.

Shuhei Nakamoto - Race and Test Team Manager, Honda Racing Development - said: "Overall it has been an encouraging day and all four Honda-powered drivers managed to complete a good number of laps."

"Giancarlo experienced some kind of problem with the engine towards the end of the session but we don't know what it was and he shut it down before anything too nasty happened! The speed trap times for both teams are not very good because we're not yet in a position to run the engine to its maximum potential. However, it's great to see the cars back in action on the track and everybody working well together in Honda's partner teams."

Giancarlo Fisichella added: "Not a bad start to the weekend at all. The first session, when I finished third in the timings, went very well. In the second session I tried some different set ups, concentrating mainly on race configuration. Sadly I stopped before the end because of a technical problem which was frustrating as I wanted to get more work done. If we qualify in the top eight tomorrow I think we will have done a good job."

Jacques Villeneuve concluded: "Twelfth position is not too bad for the first day. We've worked mainly with the race in mind and we're certainly looking better than last year. The car is a lot more driveable. We're not quick enough yet but this car is good to drive aggressively so I think we will be better off in qualifying. We should continue to get closer during the weekend. I love this track so I'm looking forward to the race on Sunday."