Lucky Strike BAR Honda will be at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend for the penultimate race of the 16 round 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship, the United States Grand Prix.

'The Brickyard', as it is known, is one of the oldest purpose-built circuits in the world and is home to the legendary Indy 500 oval race. The last turn on the circuit runs through Turn one on the oval track, which is the only banked corner on the F1 calendar.

The track also features the longest flat-out section of all the F1 circuits, with drivers running full throttle for around 22 seconds from Turn 11 to Turn one at speeds in excess of 210mph.

In contrast to this, the specially designed infield, which was built for the inaugural race held here in 2000, is a tight and relatively slow section. This part of the track is rarely used throughout the year and as a result, offers little grip in comparison to the outer oval section.

Since returning from the Italian GP last Sunday, BAR has been testing in Spain, using three cars and its full line-up of race and test drivers. Anthony Davidson undertook two days of general set-up review testing at the Idiada circuit. Jacques Villeneuve completed two days at Jerez, with Jenson Button and Takuma Sato joining him for one day each.

BAR suffered mixed fortunes in the race last year. Villeneuve had a strong weekend, qualifying seventh and finishing in sixth place, but it was less positive for Olivier Panis who lost his position after a bad start and struggled behind slower cars for much of the race, eventually finishing 12th.

JV was on form last weekend at the Italian Grand Prix though, and despite starting tenth, stormed through the field to finish a highly competitive sixth and net three points for BAR. This result promoted the team to fifth place in the Constructors' - in front of Jaguar and Toyota.

"I was very pleased to come away from Monza with some points for the team. All year we have concentrated on race set-up, but were not able to show our hard work because the car often had mechanical failures and did not finish races. In Monza all the hard work finally paid off," said the Canadian, "It will be more difficult to achieve points at the remaining two tracks than it was in Monza. A lot will depend on the tyre war. Indy is very twisty on the infield and there is a lot of braking during directional change. On these parts of the circuit, heavier engines will be penalised more than in Monza. This is also the case for Suzuka, so they will be two difficult races for us.

"Having said that we will continue to work hard and hope to be in a position to fight for some points. The F1 circuit in Indianapolis isn't a bad track, although I feel it's not as good as it could be. There is heavy braking at the end of the main straight, which offers a good overtaking opportunity. It's nice to go to Indy after Europe and this season it will be even more exciting because of the close race for the Championship."