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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">F-1</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">24/04/2004</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">BAR Quickest In Practice</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">Button Looking To Shine</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">Lucky Strike B·A·R Honda locked out the top of the timesheets in today's first free practice session for this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix as Jenson Button and Takuma Sato ended the day 1st and 2nd respectively. Third driver Anthony Davidson posted the 6th fastest time to split the Ferraris, Renaults and McLarens. <BR> <BR> <B>Jenson Button 1st Lap time: 1:20.966</B><BR> "I'm very pleased with today's sessions because it's where we felt we could be coming into this weekend. Having said that, it's still only practice rather than qualifying, so I don't want to make any predictions about the race result just yet. I do however expect us to be quick in qualifying. We've had a good step forward here from the team, Honda and Michelin, and it's great to see the progress we're making together. I had a very good couple of tests ahead of this race and the reliability we're experiencing during testing is paying off when we get to races. We'll follow the usual programme through the weekend and aim to keep things as consistent as possible as we head towards the race. Our strategy has paid off in the first three races and that, coupled with slick pitwork, is what will determine the outcome on Sunday afternoon. For now, I'm just pleased that the team has made such a great start to the weekend with all three drivers."<BR> <BR> <B>Takuma Sato 2nd Lap time: 1:21.159</B><BR> "Today has been a very good day for myself and the team. I have been able to do lots of laps with no problems whatsoever, so we have made very good progress. I didn't get the chance to do my pre-Imola preparation in Paul Ricard last week because of the weather and we haven't tested here in Imola like some of the other teams. This is a challenging circuit so I'm pleased to see the result today. We still have a lot of work to do for tomorrow, but so far so good."<BR> <BR> <B>Anthony Davidson 6th Lap time: 1:21.643</B><BR> "I've had another good day today in terms of running time, completing nearly a race distance. There was more to come from the car because I was often in traffic and I had a lot of brake wear, which hindered the last two runs. Generally though, the car felt good with the latest developments we are running here and I completed the full programme we planned to achieve with my car today. I hope the team can continue to build on the great start we've made here."<BR> <BR> <B>David Richards, Team Principal</B><BR> "It is satisfying to have all three drivers in the top six; and this really reflects the tremendous teamwork that has become our core strength. Since Bahrain everyone in the team has continued to work flat out, with Honda and Michelin, in order to maintain the momentum of the first three races. We are completely focused on pushing ourselves to the limit in every area and I am confident that by maintaining this pressure the results will come to the team."<BR> <BR> <B>Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director</B><BR> "This is certainly a good start to the weekend to have all three cars in the top six, with Jenson and Takuma fastest. The new aero package and engine upgrade have worked well and we have been able to complete our full programme on all three cars without any significant problems. The track conditions changed a lot through the day but tyre performance has been very good and we will now analyse the data to make our tyre selection for tomorrow."<BR> <BR> <B>Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development</B> <BR> "A good overall performance today in both sessions - two in the top five each time. Anthony continues to do a good job and has almost completed a race distance today without any problems. It is also, quite obviously, good to see Jenson and Taku P1 and P2 this afternoon."<BR> <BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>