Imola test - day two: 21 February.

Patrick Friesacher underlined both his, and Coloni's, potential for success in 2003 by topping the times on day two of the official FIA-sanctioned F3000 test at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.

The Austrian, said by many to be on his last chance in the category after two largely fruitless years with the Red Bull Junior team, moved ahead of day one pacesetter Bjorn Wirdheim to lead, not only the second day standings, but also the overall figures. Clocking 1min 35.345secs, the Red Bull Coloni driver became the only man to break the 1min 36secs barrier, while Wirdheim continued to record best times in the 1min 36.0s.

Friesacher was joined in the top three overall by rookie team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi, who took full advantage of the quicker conditions presented by the second day of action to sandwich Wirdheim between the two Red Bull cars after going fastest of all in the afternoon session. The young Italian got to within half a second of the Swede on his second day of running at the test, and edged likely Coloni Motorsport signing Ricardo Sperafico out of the leading trio.

The Brazilian, without a team since the exit of sponsor Petrobras in 2002, again tested impressively for the regular Coloni team, which again fielded only one car due to team-mate Zsolt Baumgartner's knee injury. Sperafico knocked just a couple of hundredths off his best Thursday time, but the improvement was enough to keep him ahead of the seething group in his wake.

Series veteran Nicolas Minassian made big gains on his second day back in the cockpit, giving the new Brand Motorsport team encouragement ahead of its debut season. The Frenchman, currently exploring his options for 2003 but thought likely to line up in Brands CART effort in Europe, clocked a 1min 37.092secs best to secure a top five spot. The team was further boosted by the performance of rookie Gary Paffett who, after sitting plum last on day one, found pace and performance to claim eighth overall in the ex-Red Bull Junior Lola.

Italian Enrico Toccacelo - another product of the Coloni school - cemented sixth place at the end of his first test with Super Nova, while American F3000 rookie Townsend Bell moved up to seventh overall with a steady improvement at the wheel of the second Arden International machine. Tony Schmidt, running for surprise attendee Astromega, and Durango newcomer Raffaele Gianmaria rounded out the top ten. It was especially promising for Gianmaria, who recorded his second top ten performance of the test.

Gearbox problems prevented Nicolas Kiesa from completing his maiden test with the Den Bla Avis team any higher than eleventh, but the Dane still managed to head Euro F3000 champion Jaime Melo, who took time to re-adapt to the FIA-spec car. Meanwhile, the PSM-ISR Charouz duo of Jaroslav Janis and Yannick Schroeder slipped to 13th and 14th, still tied together on times.

Three BCN Competicion drivers rounded out the list of 17 runners, with Marcel Costa getting the better of FNissan convert Angel Burgueno and French F3 star Kevin Nadin despite badly damaging one of the Spanish team's two ex-Nordic cars in the morning session. Rodrigo Sperafico, who had helped shakedown the cars on Thursday did not run as expected.

Leading performances (21 February):

Patrick Friesacher Red Bull Coloni 1min 35.345secs 1min 37.458secsBjorn Wirdheim Arden International 1min 36.048secs 1min 37.211secsVitantonio Liuzzi Red Bull Coloni 1min 36.679secs 1min 36.530secsRicardo Sperafico Coloni 1min 36.829secs 1min 36.727secsNicolas Minassian Brand 1min 37.353secs 1min 37.092secsEnrico Toccacelo Super Nova 1min 37.242secs 1min 37.769secsTownsend Bell Arden 1min 37.548secs 1min 37.349secsGary Paffett Brand 1min 37.970secs 1min 37.403secsTony Schmidt Astromega 1min 37.470secs no timeRaffaele Gianmaria Durango 1min 37.503secs 1min 38.685secsNicolas Kiesa Den Bla Avis 1min 37.517secs 1min 37.938secsJaime Melo Durango 1min 37.787secs 1min 38.234secsJaroslav Janis PSM-ISR Charouz 1min 38.740secs 1min 40.518secsYannick Schroeder PSM-ISR Charouz 1min 39.138secs no timeMarcel Costa BCN 1min 40.372secs no timeAngel Burgueno BCN no time 1min 50.038secsKevin Nadin BCN 2min 10.166secs no time

[ times listed morning/afternoon session with best in bold]

Leading overall performances (20-21 February):

Patrick Friesacher Red Bull Coloni 1min 36.467secs 1min 35.345secsBjorn Wirdheim Arden 1min 36.020secs 1min 36.048secsVitantonio Liuzzi Red Bull Coloni 1min 37.145secs 1min 36.530 secsRicardo Sperafico Coloni 1min 36.742secs 1min 36.727secsEnrico Toccacelo Super Nova 1min 37.007secs 1min 37.242secsNicolas Minassian Brand 1min 38.599secs 1min 37.092secsTownsend Bell Arden 1min 37.764secs 1min 37.349secsGary Paffett Brand 1min 42.864secs 1min 37.403secsTony Schmidt Astromega 1min 38.841secs 1min 37.470secsRaffaele Gianmaria Durango 1min 38.411secs 1min 37.503secsNicolas Kiesa Den Bla Avis 1min 37.976secs 1min 37.517secsJaime Melo Durango 1min 37.609secs 1min 37.787secsJaroslav Janis PSM-ISR Charouz 1min 38.413secs 1min 38.740secsYannick Schroeder PSM-ISR Charouz 1min 38.444secs 1min 39.138secsRodrigo Sperafico BCN 1min 38.528secs no timeMarcel Costa BCN 1min 40.675secs 1min 40.372secsAngel Burgueno BCN no time 1min 50.038secsKevin Nadin BCN no time 2min 10.166secs

[Times listed Thursday/Friday with best in bold]