Wirdheim gets Jag test role

"I am delighted to join Jaguar Racing in my new role," said Wirdheim. "I look forward to helping the team achieve its goals this season. There are some really good people in the team and I have settled in quite quickly.

"There is a lot of work ahead but I am excited about this and look forward to contributing to the continued development of the R5."

Jaguar is one of the teams eligible to run a third car during Friday practice at Grands Prix, and Wirdheim is one of the best drivers eligible to do the job. The Swede tested for Jordan on the Friday at Indianapolis last year.

Jaguar had wanted Justin Wilson, but the Briton has competed in more than six Grands Prix in the last two years. There were hopes that ths rule would be overturned but that did not materialise.

Jaguar's Managing Director David Pitchforth added: "We have all been working incredibly hard on the R5 and the added benefit of as third driver will be a great help both to the development team and of course to our drivers Mark Webber and Christian Klien."