NUERBURGRING, Germany, 28 May 2005 — Nick Heidfeld was the quickest race driver in yesterday’s practice for the European Grand Prix in a session of mixed fortunes for his Williams team.

The German and team mate Mark Webber headed the time sheets for much of the afternoon session at a blistering hot Nuerburgring but the Australian spun off the track and then Heidfeld stopped close to the pit lane on his 14th lap.

Heidfeld is hoping for great things at his home grand prix after finishing second at Monaco last week and standing on the podium alongside Webber, who was third, in the BMW-powered team’s best performance of the season to date.

McLaren and Toyota test drivers Alex Wurz and Ricardo Zonta made the most of their moment in the sun, delivering the fastest times over both sessions in their last few seconds on the track for the weekend.

Austrian Wurz, who was also quickest in the morning, clocked 1:30.623 around the 5.148-km circuit in his McLaren with Zonta failing to pip him to the top time by just 0.07 seconds. Neither will race tomorrow.

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, looking for a third successive race win this weekend, was fifth fastest behind Colombian team mate Juan Pablo Montoya. Spain’s championship leader Fernando Alonso was eighth fastest in the later session for Renault after putting in only two laps in the morning at the Nuerburgring, where track temperatures reached more than 50 degrees Celsius.

All the times were a couple of seconds outside that set by Michael Schumacher to claim pole position at the circuit last season.

The seven-times world champion won from pole last year, his fifth victory at the circuit closest to his childhood home, and made an early declaration of intent on Friday morning as the quickest of those who will race on Sunday.

Defendants in Senna Case Acquitted

In Rome, An Italian appeals court on Thursday acquitted the Williams team defendants in a manslaughter trial over the death of Ayrton Senna. Brazilian Senna, a three times Formula One world champion, died in May 1994 after his Williams crashed during the San Marino Grand Prix at the Imola circuit in Italy.

The court ruled that Adrian Newey, the former chief designer for Williams, was innocent, while the case against Williams team’s technical director Patrick Head was ‘timed out’ under a statute of limitations.

They were both acquitted of manslaughter charges in a 1997 trial and that verdict had been upheld by an appeals court in 1999.