Berger: Bourdais in line for 2008 seat

The three times Champ Car champion drove for the Italian team for three days last week, and posted lap times that were just a fraction of a second slower than 2006 race driver Vitantonio Liuzzi, but quicker than Scott Speed.

Those performances left team owner Gerhard Berger impressed enough to already put Bourdais on the shortlist for 2008 - even though he has ruled out any attempt to buy the driver off his Newman/Haas race deal for next year.

"Yes, he is definitely in the frame for 2008," Berger told autosport.com. "But not for 2007, as he has a contract. I would like him to honour that, absolutely."

Berger said that Bourdais's pace in the test was just what he had expected after agreeing to try out the Frenchman.

"I think he did a bloody good job," said Berger. "He delivered what I had expected of him and he is a good, talented driver.

"I have followed his recent performances and have seen for a while that he was doing a good job in the States."

Although Bourdais has been ruled out of the Toro Rosso equation for 2007, Berger says that the futures of Vitantonio Liuzzi and Speed have still not been decided.

"We are considering what to do, and we have not finished all our discussions," he said. "I would say our two guys, Tonio and Scott, are on pole position, but there are still a few things we have to sort out.

"We are close to finding out, and will have something to say by the end of the year."

A full feature about Bourdais's test will appear in this week's Weekly Journal