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Bourdais 'encouraged' despite heavy shunt

Thursday 17th April 2008

Despite a heavy crash during his debut outing in the Toro Rosso STR3, Sebastien Bourdais says he is more than satisfied with the team's new challenger.

The Frenchman was the first to test the new Toro Rosso, which he did so at the Barcelona circuit on Wednesday. However, his day came to a premature stop in the afternoon when he left the track at Turn Nine, crashing into the barriers.

Although Bourdais was unhurt the shunt caused major damage to the left side of the car, bringing the STR3's debut outing to a halt.

But despite his huge shunt the Frenchman was nonetheless encouraged by the test, which saw him complete 71 laps with a best time of 1:20.715.

"The base line is quite good and I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised," he said.

"However, the track conditions might be extremely good so I need to be careful with everything I say but so far the car has had no problems at all, which is a very encouraging point.

"The feeling is good and I felt comfortable in the car straight away. From a driving point of view you can feel it has more downforce than the current one and it's a big step forward on the aero package."

The team had intended to debut the new car at the Turkish GP but may have to push back the date as a result of Bourdais's crash, which put an end to the team's test for this week.