Rate it!

0 votes

Takuma Sato set the pace on the opening day of a multi-team Formula One test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

The Japanese driver, who is testing for the Toro Rosso team in an effort to land a race seat for 2009, set a best time of one minute and 20.763 seconds to finish fastest of 17 runners.

Red Bull test driver Sebastien Buemi made it a Toro Rosso one-two as the Italian squad set the pace on slick tyres, which will return for 2009.

Sato's time was a second quicker than Kimi Raikkonen's pole position of 1:21.813 at this year's Spanish Grand Prix, and only marginally slower than the quickest practice lap for that race, but Toro Rosso played down the significance.

"Testing times are always hard to evaluate, but today there was probably a bigger discrepancy between the car configurations used by the teams," the team said in a post-session report.

"For our part, the only concession to the new 2009 aerodynamic rules was to run with less downforce."

Veteran Austrian Alex Wurz was third for Honda, while McLaren test duo Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett were fourth and fifth ahead of Ferrari's Luca Badoer.

Robert Kubica was seventh in a hybrid BMW Sauber, which featured 2009-specification aerodynamics.

Elsewhere, reigning world rally champion Sebastien Loeb was a remarkable eighth for Red Bull Racing after completing 82 laps in only his second taste of an F1 car.

Honda hopefuls Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi, both of whom are vying with Rubens Barrichello for a place in the Japanese team next season, failed to make an impression at the start of the three-day test, finishing 15th and 17th respectively.

Senna, the 25-year-old who finished runner-up in the GP2 support series this year, was making his test debut and is the nephew of the late triple world champion Ayrton.

"The first day of my first Formula One test has been just as big a moment as I expected it to be," Senna said afterwards.

"I was feeling quite calm but on my first lap out of the garage I realised the significance of the moment. This is a very special opportunity and one which has been a dream my whole life.

"The team were great and left it to me to find my level, but by the end of my second run I was feeling very much at home in the car," added Senna, whose uncle won all his titles in Honda-powered McLarens.

Day 1 test times:

1. Takuma Sato (Toro Rosso) 1:20.763 (121 laps)

2. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) 1:21.071 (117)

3. Alex Wurz (Honda) 1:21.198 (77)

4. Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren) 1:21.417 (65)

5. Gary Paffett (McLaren) 1:21.956 (78)

6. Luca Badoer (Ferrari) 1:22.038 (94)

7. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) 1:22.341 (56)

8. Sebastien Loeb (Red Bull) 1:22.503 (82)

9. Nelson Piquet Jr (Renault) 1:22.560 (80)

10. Christian Klien (BMW Sauber) 1:22.883 (53)

11. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) 1:23.467 (116)

12. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) 1:23.794 (86)

13. Adrian Sutil (Force India) 1:23.832 (88)

14. Marc Gene (Ferrari) 1:24.177 (32)

15. Bruno Senna (Honda) 1:24.343 (39)

16. Giedo van der Garde (Renault) 1:24.908 (32)

17. Lucas di Grassi (Honda) 1:25.512 (48)

Sporting Life / Reuters