Toyota Duo on Top at Jerez

Eight Formula One teams and a massive 17 drivers kicked off this week's testing at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain.

With only Jordan and Minardi absent from the test, it was the Toyota team who dominated the first day of work at the Spanish circuit, with Italian Jarno Trulli posting a promising time of 1:17.694.

Trulli, driving the new TF105, was the only man capable of lapping in less then 78 seconds, outpacing his Brazilian teammate Ricardo Zonta, also in the new TF105, by nearly half a second.

McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya and Pedro de la Rosa followed the two Toyotas with the third and fourth fastest times of the day. Both men worked with the new MP4-20 car, although the Colombian's machine incorporated a radical-looking wing on top of the engine cover.

Renault's Fernando Alonso managed the fifth fastest time in the new R25 after his team were forced to change their programme due to the weather conditions.

Alonso had a trouble-free day while his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella did not enjoy such luck, the Italian finishing down in 12th position in the timesheets after being hit by a number of mechanical problems.

"With the circuit conditions preventing any useful set-up work, we shifted our programme to concentrate on accumulating mileage with the new car," said Renault's chief test engineer Christian Silk. "Fernando was very busy, completing 119 laps on our tyre endurance programme without any problems at all.

"Giancarlo's day didn't run so cleanly, with a number of small problems delaying his work, but he was nevertheless pleased with the car's handling. Tomorrow, we will continue to test tyres, both in performance and endurance configurations, as well as putting more miles on the R25."

Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber were in charge of testing duties for the Williams-BMW team, the German outpacing the Australian in the FW27.

The Sauber team had, for the first time this year, two of their new C24 cars in action at the same track, with Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve at the wheel. The young Brazilian covered a total of 65 laps on his way to the eighth quickest time of the day, while Villeneuve covered only three laps less and finished at the bottom of the times.

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello continued to put more miles in the World Champions' F2004M car, with which they will start the season. Test driver Luca Badoer, meanwhile, drove the modified F2004 to the 10th fastest time of the day, right behind Barrichello.

The Red Bull team, who on Monday unveiled their RB1 car, kicked off their first proper test with the new machine, with David Coulthard and Christian Klien doing the driving. After 41 laps, Coulthard finished in 11th place, while Klien was 13th quickest.

Japanese driver Takuma Sato escaped unscathed following a big crash at the first corner after his car's rear wing failed. The BAR-Honda driver, at the wheel of the new 007 car, went off track and crashed backwards into the tyre barriers.

"It was the first time ever I have lost a rear wing," Sato told Autosport.com. "I was doing over 300kmph and I even had wheelspin in seventh gear. I didn't manage to do much work today, it was meant to be a series of ten lap runs."

Brazilian Nelson Piquet Junior made his debut with the BAR-Honda team, driving the old 006 car for 42 laps on his way to the 16th fastest time of the day. Piquet was involved in an incident, crashing against the tyre barrier at the penultimate corner.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:17.694 64 2. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:18.178 51 3. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:18.240 38 4. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:18.548 77 5. Alonso Renault (M) 1:18.677 124 6. Heidfeld Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.796 97 7. Webber Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.983 83 8. Massa Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:19.142 65 9. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:19.214 38 10. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:19.734 60 11. Coulthard Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:19.844 41 12. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:19.849 91 13. Klien Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:19.973 49 14. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:20.310 19 15. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:20.527 27 16. Piquet BAR-Honda (M) 1:20.852 42 17. Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:21.065 62 All Timing Unofficial

Visit Atlas F1's Testing Center for further information