By steve
April 28 2003

With all the rumours about Alex Wurz floating around, here is a bit of info about the man and a description of the way he tackles the Barcelona Track. Alexander Wurz was the Youngest ever Le-Mans winner. His first full season of racing (1998)saw 4th place at Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Canada and Britain, and a fifth place in France. He also impressed at Monaco until a touch with Schumacher, whilst fighting for the lead, damaged his suspension and caused him to crash out of the race.
The next two years at Benetton weren't as pleasant. No-one knows the true reason but there are rumours that the next Benettons were comparatively heavy, leaving Wurz, who is pretty tall, with little or no Ballast, compared to his smaller team-mate. It is also thought that an alarming airborne roll into the gravel bed at the first corner of the Canadian GP may have taken the edge off Wurz's driving.
He has been testing for Mclaren since 2001, hoping to benefit in the same way Panis did.

Here's the lap from Wurz

"Accelerating downhill along the start-finish straight you hit 190mph / 310kph in seventh gear before braking hard for the righthander of Elf corner, which acts as a funnel at the start of the race and is often the site of first lap incidents. You can hit up to 4.8G under braking as your speed reduces to 86mph / 138kph in second gear for the 2nd corner, the uphill left flick of Elf at 118mph / 189kph is in third and in qualifying flat out. This is immediately followed by the long demanding sweep of the Renault corner, powering through the 180 degree right hander, you reach 170mph / 273kph on the exit.
You continue to push hard on the throttle for the short straight that leads to Repsol, reaching some 180mph / 290kph in sixth gear before braking hard for the tricky right hander. You enter Repsol in second gear at 85mph / 137kph, increasing your speed as you are swung round the right curve, exiting at 155mph / 252kph.

A short burst of acceleration takes you down to the Seat hairpin. Hard on the brakes the track drops as you negotiate the tight lefthander at 60mph / 97kph in second gear. Accelerating out of Seat, the track sweeps through a gentle left curve reaching 160mph / 272kph in fifth gear before once again braking hard for the difficult left of Würth, which is taken in second at 85mph / 136kph. Würth leads you on to a short uphill straight.
A spurt of gas sees your speed hit 147mph / 236kph in fourth gear on the approach to the blind righthander of Campsa. Negotiated at 135mph / 217kph in fourth gear this is a tricky corner with a big bump on turn in. Campsa leads onto the fast Nissan straight, which sees you reach speeds of 180mph / 290kph in sixth gear before braking sharply for the La Caixa hairpin.

The left turn is taken in second gear at 65mph / 104kph as you climb on the approach to the double right apex of Banc Sabadell. Entered the bumpy corner at 80mph / 128kph in second, you push hard as you exit the second apex, building up speed on the short straight that leads to New Holland. The right hander is likely to be flat out in qualifying and in the race only with a lift at 150mph /241kph in fourth gear. Another short straight follows that leads you to the final corner, a very fast right hand turn that is taken at a minimum on 140mph / 225kph in fourth and sweeps you back on the pit straight to start another lap."