By Huw Alban
April 29 2002

Spain 2001 was a one car finish affair for the OrangeArrows team, with fuel pressure claiming the A22 of Enrique Bernoldi during the race. Both cars ran reliably during the practice sessions and the qualifying hour, but a number of gravel trips didn't help the teams cause. Barcelona 2001 saw the re-introduction of traction control systems into Formula 1, although this didn't work out for McLaren's David Coulthard as he stalled on the grid at the start of the formation lap and had to take to the back of the field.

OrangeArrows spent much of the 2001 free practice sessions in the top 15 with neither driver at the time experiencing any reported mechanical problems. Enrique Bernoldi seemed to be performing particularly well here, being almost always faster than his more experienced team mate. The team lined up 16th & 17th after the qualifying hour, with Jos Verstappen wrecking his 3rd run with a trip through the gravel.

Both cars got strong starts, with Jos Verstappen making one of his meteoric starts catapulting him from 17th to 12th by the end of the first lap. Enrique retired from the race with fuel pressure problems, whilst Jos battled with his A23 and another gravel trip to eventually finish 12th.

There are three things currently favouring OrangeArrows at the Spanish Grand Prix. Firstly, Enrique Bernoldi seems to really like this circuit and last year positively flew in the free practice sessions. Second is the obvious race pace of the A23, but this is tempered slightly by it's current reliability record which has not been good. On a positive front on the reliability stakes the car ran relatively reliably at the Silverstone test next week, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen emerged from the test speaking postively.

Despite this optimism reliability has to be a factor and the fans will be counting down the laps waiting to see the OrangeArrows cars park up on the trackside. Hopefully this will not happen, however, a combination of Frentzen's experience, Enrique's like of this track, and the race pace of the A23 should provide all Arrows fans with something to watch out for this weekend.