South Africa lead first day of test

Adrian Zaugg produced two laps good enough to top the timing sheets in the final minutes of the day, as he ran on new tyres for his last run.

"We were just working on the set-up of the car for most of the day," said the GP2 racer. "We put new tyres on at the start of the day, and then again at the end and we got the lap."

Zaugg's effort was marginally faster than the best lap from the morning session, which was set by multiple A1GP race winner Nicolas Lapierre.

The Frenchman returned to A1GP action for the first time since last December, as he had spent the early months of 2007 preparing for the GP2 season.

Lapierre was also on hand to help the French rookie drivers, which included Nicolas Prost, son of four-time Formula One world champion Alain Prost.

Great Britain set the third-fastest time overall with Oliver Jarvis behind the wheel in the afternoon, after rookie driver Oliver Turvey had driven the car in the morning.

Jarvis had been at the top of the timesheets prior to Zaugg's final run, but the Japanese Formula Three driver was happy with his day's work.

"When I set my time I didn't expect it to be fast enough to stay quickest," said Jarvis. "It's good that we are near the top, but being fastest is not important at this test. We've made good progress."

Other pacesetters during the day included Team Ireland, who were second in the morning session with Adam Carroll behind the wheel.

The GP2 race winner has not been confirmed as a race driver for the team though, and tomorrow he will hand the car over to Ralph Firman.

Switzerland were third-fastest in the afternoon, as Neel Jani adapted back to an A1GP car in between the two European Champ Car races.

Jani then handed the car over to Sebastien Buemi, but it was the Champ Car driver's time which remained the best effort for the Swiss team.

"It was hard work to learn the car again, but I am really pleased to be back with the team," said Jani. "It was a useful test, the car seems well-prepared for the season."

Pos  Team            Time
 1.  South Africa    1:10.484
 2.  France           + 0.047
 3.  Great Britain    + 0.075
 4.  Ireland          + 0.183
 5.  Switzerland      + 0.189
 6.  Germany          + 0.390
 7.  India            + 0.398
 8.  New Zealand      + 0.541
 9.  Netherlands      + 0.585
10.  Malaysia         + 0.853
11.  Brazil           + 0.864
12.  USA              + 0.961
13.  Australia        + 1.094
14.  Italy            + 1.129
15.  Portugal         + 1.188
16.  China            + 1.389
17.  Indonesia        + 1.536
18.  Czech Republic   + 1.680
19.  Canada           + 1.742
20.  Pakistan         + 1.912
21.  Lebanon          + 2.007
22.  Mexico           + 2.854