'The session was pretty good,' said Trulli. 'We learned quite a bit but we are struggling to be quick in race conditions. We are having a few problems with the tyres blistering at the moment. I think we will be quick in qualifying but the signs so far are that it will be much harder in the race. We have worked hard today to find ways of sorting out the problem and we'll have to see if we have found a good solution. Today we concentrated on the race configuration; tomorrow morning we will check the race set-up but we will have to think about qualifying. We didn't have any mechanical problems today and the brakes ­always a concern on this circuit ­seem okay.'

The second of the two 60-minute sessions was just ending when Frentzen crashed at the same corner where a brake problem had ended his race here in 1999.

'It felt like I came on some dirt in the braking area which had been put on the track by someone going off in front of me,' said Frentzen. 'I wasn't going flat out or braking that hard, but it was enough to cause me to lose the rear of the car and spin off. Until then, everything had been going according to plan as we worked on the race set-up. There hadn't been any problems and we were making progress with trying to find a good balance. Then I crashed. I went backwards ­pretty fast. There was a big bang - but I'm okay.'

The McLarens of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard were fastest, ahead of Eddie Irvine's Jaguar. Apart from minor off-course excursions on a track dusty and dirty from lack of use, the McLaren drivers had no problems.

Irvine set his time with less fuel on board as he tried continuing aerodynamic modifications. Michael Schumacher, 11th fastest, lost more than half an hour of running time while extensive changes were made to the front suspension set-up on his Ferrari. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello ­who was fourth fastest ­reported no problems.

Apart from Frentzen's Jordan-Honda, the most serious damage was caused when Jacques Villeneuve, who was 19th fastest, spun off the track. The rear suspension on the BAR Honda had been damaged a few corners before when Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams ran into the back of Villeneuve's car.

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Jordan Grand Prix