Honda test driver Davidson upsets odds with fastest time

BAR Honda test driver Anthony Davidson upset the odds yesterday, posting the quickest time in the first practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix as the British outfit snatched a one-two.

The Briton, who won't be racing tomorrow, overcame a dusty track to storm up the leaderboard with a last gasp lap of 1 min 33.289sec, pushing his teammate Jenson Button into second, nearly ninth tenths of a second back.

BAR's other driver Takuma Sato was forced to watch him steal the show after failing to complete a single lap after being forced off when thick white smoke started belching from his engine just seconds into the afternoon practice.

Despite Sato's problems, team boss David Richards was confident of a good weekend ahead for BAR, which is racing Renault for second place in the constructors championships.

Tomorrow will be very important, especially for Taku, as we learn more about how to get the best from the circuit and set ourselves up for Sunday's race," he said.

The McLaren-Mercedes also had a positive start to the inaugural race in Shanghai with Finn Kimi Raikkonen third and his partner David Coulthard fourth.

World champion Michael Schumacher, who had a software problem in the car in morning practice, bounced back in the afternoon but could only manage eighth while the winner in Monza two weeks ago, Rubens Barrichelo, was fifth.

Schumacher, who hasn't won in two races, acknowledged that work still needs to be done to bring the Ferrari up to speed.

"This has been an interesting Friday for us, mainly because it is a new circuit," he said.

"We still have to adapt our car to the demands of the track and it is not yet perfect. This morning I had a small problem with software at the end of the session, but I am confident we can have a good weekend."

Several drivers struggled on the new track, failing to negotiate some punishing twists and turns. Juan Pablo Montoya spun his Williams as did Ricardo Zonta in the Toyota.

Dust was blamed by many for the slippery conditions, although there was rounded praise for the circuit generally.

"It's pretty unique," said Schumacher. "It's quite a challenge with a lot of blind corners so very tricky."

Rounding out the top 10 were Giancarlo Fisichella in sixth, Ralf Schumacher in seventh and the Toyota pair of Zonta and Olivier Panis in ninth and tenth.

Former world champion Jacques Villenueve was back behind the wheel after an extended period out of the sport since being dumped by BAR and, like Schumacher, was excited by being involved again.

"Everything was going pretty well by the end of the day and I was setting consistent times, but I still need to work out how to get the best out of a new set of tyres for a single flying lap," said the Canadian after finishing 15th in his Renault.