Jenson puts a smile on everyone's face

A happy Button
By Phil Huff (26/01/2004)
January 26 2004

In perhaps the most encouraging test for the team yet, Jenson Button demonstrated his determination for the forthcoming season by breaking the lap record at the revised Circuit de Catalunya.

On Thursday, he set an impressive time of 1:14.588 driving the interim 2004 BAR Concept car - the first driver to break the 75-second barrier, and more than a second faster than the previous record.

Jenson was buoyed by the performance of the car. "Obviously, it's a great feeling to have broken the lap record, especially with so many of the top teams here. Over the last few tests, we have really been concentrating on testing the car for reliability, and Thursday was the first time we had tried to do a reasonable lap. Because of that, we are extremely encouraged with the time, as the data seems to tell us we are heading in the right direction - although we won't really know until Melbourne.

"It has put a smile on everyone's face, which is very important in the build-up to the season."

Jenson will resume testing in Valencia next week.