NEW DEVELOPMENTS BOOST PACE OF 024

The Tyrrell Yamaha team tested at Silverstone yesterday (Thursday)
with one car handled by test and reserve driver Emmanuel Collard.
The Frenchman drove 45 timed laps in dry conditions and set a best
lap time of 1 min 29.9 sec.

"I am very satisfied with my second run in the 024" said Emmanuel
Collard. "I am now more comfortable in the cockpit even though we
need to finalize some details. Run after run we improved the
balance of the car. We also worked on the brakes and continued to
practice starts and pit stops. We tested new front steering
geometries, new front suspension parts for Spain and got very
positive results. The full day went well and the team's atmosphere
is really good."

Harvey Postlethwaite, Managing Director - Engineering said: "We had
an excellent session with Emmanuel. This is the first time he has
driven the car in anger and a 1 min 29.9 sec is very competitive.
He seemed to achieve this level of performance very easily. He set
up the car quickly and more importantly he settled well with the
team. We are looking forward to giving him more testing
opportunities this year. His technical input was succinct and clear
and he'd certainly merit a place in Formula 1."

On the Spanish Grand Prix, Harvey added: "After the lottery at
Monaco it will be nice to go back to a proper motor racing circuit.
Barcelona is a modern and safe track, technically challenging,
requiring a consistent driver input and a good chassis set-up. We
are going to Spain with new components in the chassis department
and Yamaha has also made some improvements on the engine. Our aim
is to maintain our level of competitiveness even though I still
feel we have yet to see the full potential of our package this
year."

Mika Salo said: "I am looking forward to going to Spain because we
have some interesting new developments on the car and the engine
and we should be even more competitive. I like the circuit because
it is quite technical and fast. I am confident we can confirm at
Barcelona the strong progress made by the team and it would be good
to score several points again. Four would be a nice figure..."

Ukyo Katayama said: "Its good to go back to a proper circuit after
the chicanes of Imola and the walls of Monaco! I didn't like the
Catalunya track the first time I went there, but now I enjoy very
much the lay-out. Its got some fast and challenging corners. Its
hard physically and you need to be fit if you want to push hard
during the race."

Mike Gascoyne, Deputy Technical Director, commented: "Barcelona is
one of the most interesting modern circuits. There are some
difficult medium to high speed corners combined with a long
straight and some overtaking opportunities. Cars will run
reasonably high down force but its obviously a trade off between
down force and speed on the straights. The last two corners are
medium to high speed but a good exit is crucial to be able to
overtake on the start/finish straight. The tarmac is good and not
too bumpy. The 024 should handle well as we have some good
modifications and new parts for this race."

The Spanish Grand Prix will be held on the 4.727 kms/2.937 miles
Catalunya circuit near Barcelona. The 65 lap, 307.114 kms/190.872
miles race will start at 14:00 hours local time on Sunday 2 June
and is expected to last one and a half hours.


Chassis numbers:    Car 18, Ukyo Katayama:   01
                    Car 19, Mika Salo:       04
                    Spare car, Salo:         02
                    Spare chassis:           03

--
     The F1 FAQ on the Web
http://www.ultranet.com/~mitchmcc