Ex-F3 ace Hynes tests Dallara-Nissan

Hynes, who beat Jenson Button and Luciano Burti to the 1999 F3 title, completed a full race distance in the car to test out its new gearbox. Twenty of the Dallara-built chassis will contest the series, which is scheduled to race in Spain, France, Italy, Argentina and Brazil.

"It's a great car," said Hynes. "It has excellent balance and traction, just what you'd expect from a Dallara. It felt like a Formula 3 car with a lot more power. The engine is really nice and sounds mega! The power curve is really smooth, and would've been even better but we were running it without a flatshift.

"I think the performance will be very close to an F3000 car, it's certainly a lot more driveable than the old F3000s. I think this championship will be something to watch this year. I reckon you could get out of these and into an F1 car quite easily," he added.

Hynes has set his sights on contesting the series this year, and is working on a budget: "I'm really keen to do it, I think it's going to turn a few heads."