Kiesa Successfully Completes Fiorano Test

New Minardi driver Nicolas Kiesa completed today at the Fiorano circuit the necessary mileage to get his Formula One Super-License ahead of his debut at the German Grand Prix next week.

The Danish driver, replacing Briton Justin Wilson at the Faenza-based squad, covered a total of 310kms around Ferrari's test track. Minardi said the aim of the test was to allow the 22-year-old to familiarise himself with this year's PS03 car and its systems.

"The first impression I had was on the installation lap, when I could feel that the car was very powerful," said Kiesa. "I hardly touched the throttle, and the performance was amazing. The biggest surprise today was undoubtedly the brakes, which were incredibly strong in their response.

"Once you get to know how to use them, though, they're reasonably easy to work with. I tended to use the 100-metre board as the main reference point, and then adjusted my braking accordingly. The speed you can carry in the corners is also very impressive compared with an F3000 car.

"In all honesty, I was quite surprised that I was physically able to do the full 300 km today without any problems. After the first 200 km this morning, I had a slightly sore neck, but having finished the full distance, I now feel much better than this morning and could easily go on driving. It has been a really great experience, and I can't wait for Hockenheim next weekend."

The team also allowed their newly signed test and reserve driver Gianmaria Bruni to make his debut at the wheel of an F1 car, completing a brief shakedown run of 30kms. The Italian will take part in the two-hour test session on Friday morning at Hockenheim.

"It has been really exciting, like using an amazing PlayStation," said the Italian. "I could do only a few shakedown laps today, but I really enjoyed driving the car and managed to get a good feeling for it very quickly. The guys were all very helpful and took any pressure away from what was my first experience of F1. I can't wait to get in the car again next week."

Kiesa's best lap was 1:02.601, and team principal Paul Stoddart was pleased with his drivers' performance.

"The team is very pleased with Nicolas's performance over the 310-km distance he covered today, and although he only carried out a few shakedown laps, Gianmaria also did an excellent job and appeared to get to grips with F1 performance very quickly," said Stoddart.

"I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Ferrari, for granting their permission to use the Fiorano facility at short notice, thus enabling Nicolas to complete a Grand Prix distance prior to arriving at Hockenheim, as well as to the other Team Principals, for agreeing to today's one-off programme during the period of the testing moratorium."