Kimi Raikkonen set a blistering pace at Silverstone today, the second of a three-day test.

Weather conditions at Silverstone today were much improved compared to Tuesday, with only one light rain shower interrupting proceedings and temperatures reaching 18 degrees C.

Raikkonen lapped the Northamptonshire track at 151.017 mph, posting a new unofficial lap record, as the Woking team continues its preparations for the last three races of the season.

The Spa winner was almost a whole second faster than his closest rival, McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa. However, unlike Raikkonen, who was running the MP4-19B, the Spaniard was at the wheel of the MP4-19.

Third quickest was Takuma Sato, who was on duty with BAR teammate Jenson Button. Both drivers focussed on set-ups and tyre testing, while the English driver tried some new aerodynamic solutions.

Amidst talk that Jarno Trulli is about to be named as a Toyota driver, possibly fro the remainder of 2004, the Japanese outfit had Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta on duty. The Brazilian completed the most laps today (129).

Following yesterday's excellent return to the cockpit, when he was over a second quicker than his nearest rival, Ralf Schumacher lost valuable track-time in the afternoon as a result of a technical problem. Consequently, the German, who was carrying out a tyre test for Suzuka, completed only 37 laps. Marc Gene, who carried out set-up work in the morning, and tyre tests for Suzuka in the afternoon, completed 80 trouble-free laps.

Centre of attention today was Jacques Villeneuve, who after almost a year away, was back in the cockpit of an F1 car, following the shock (to some) decision to draft the former world champion in as replacement for Jarno Trulli, at least as far as this week's test is concerned.

The day's programme was designed to give Jacques an opportunity to familiarise himself with the R24, and he therefore conducted eight long runs, varying between four and nine laps, while also working to achieve a comfortable driving position within the car. His times improved steadily as the day advanced and he completed a total of 68 laps.

"We had a good first day," he said, "although it wasn't about chasing quick times: the first priority was to get a comfortable driving position within the car, and we have worked away at that all day.

"I had expected things to be more difficult physically because the lap-times are a lot faster than when I last drove in F1," he admitted, "and Silverstone is possibly the most physically demanding circuit of all, but I feel fine. The R24 seems a nice car and handles well, but our aim today was to begin learning about the car - we did not work on set-ups at all. Overall, we made good progress."

Alonso completed 110 laps, almost two race distances at the Northamptonshire circuit, and concentrated on tyre development for the final races of the season. He completed short performance runs in the morning and then longer endurance evaluations after lunch.

Times