Colciago fastest on day 1 at Monza

The Italian was faster than the three BMWs of Andy Priaulx, Augusto Farfus, and Jorg Muller, despite the straightline speed advantage the German cars are perceived to have.

However, Colciago was more surprised due to the fact that he is still recovering from a heavy crash he had at the first round of the season in Brazil more than one month ago.

"Honestly I did not expect to be fastest, because I haven't recovered 100 per cent from my crash at Curitiba and my back is still aching," he said.

Colciago's time was more than one second faster than Jordi Gene in the first of the works SEATs, and he put his impressive performance down to slipstreaming along some of Monza's long straights.

"In the morning my car was very good and I managed to get a tow that helped a bit," he added. "We are still slower than the other cars at the end of the straight, but I'm quite happy with my time."

Behind the three BMW drivers, Nicola Larini completed the top five in the only Chevrolet Lacetti at the test.