Bruni impresses Coloni in test

Bruni topped the times at the two-day test, which was attended by two other teams, reigning champion Nordic Racing and Durango. He was said to be a second clear of the rest on the first day in the rain, and half a second up in the dry.

Team boss Paolo Coloni said: "We were extremely impressed by him. It was great to have him in the car. His feedback was fantastic." When asked if he would like to sign Bruni for next year's F3000 International Championship, Coloni said: "absolutely."

Nordic team manager Chris Mower was also impressed with Bruni. "He was consistently the fastest," he said. "I hope he runs at next week's [unofficial] Barcelona test so we can get a better idea about how good he is."

Nordic tested Brazilian Mario Haberfeld and Swiss Joel Camathias, who raced for Team KTR this year. According to Mower, Camathias was slightly quicker than Haberfeld, but reported that both could have gone quicker if they had got more running in the dry. Track conditions were said to be poor.

Along with Bruni, Coloni also tried out Formula Nissan racer Polo Villamil, who was fourth fastest behind Camathias and Haberfeld.