Trulli: Quickest

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Toyota's Jarno Trulli set the fastest lap on the final day of testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday.

The team have, by and large, been off the pace since they unveiled their new car for the forthcoming season, the TF108, in Cologne seven weeks ago.

However, on the final day of official testing before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 16th, the Italian lapped the 2.875-mile track in a time of one minute 20.801 seconds.

There have been a total of nine days of testing in Barcelona this month, and Trulli was understandably delighted to have set a time over 0.4 seconds quicker than the rest.

"That was another positive day," remarked Trulli, whose time was likely to have been sparked by a qualifying set-up on the car.

"Even though this is only a test, it's nice to see the mechanics and the guys smiling because today's times are good motivation.

"There is still room for improvement, but this shows the team has done a good job over the winter tests.

"Of course, we won't know the real running order until Melbourne, but I'm quite confident for the season.

"It's definitely looking much better than last year, so I'm happy for the team."

Nevertheless, team-mate Timo Glock finished 11th quickest and also caused one of seven red flags when he suffered a minor accident early in the afternoon.

Hamilton 10th

On a day of surprises, Lewis Hamilton - who had been quickest the previous two days for McLaren-Mercedes - had to settle for the 10th fastest time, over 1.2secs down on Trulli.

Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard, who missed Tuesday's session after tweaking a nerve in his neck 24 hours earlier, was second quickest followed by Williams' Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen and the second Red Bull of Mark Webber were fourth and fifth, with the Renaults of Nelson Piquet Jr. and Fernando Alonso sixth and seventh.

Double World Champion Alonso completed the most laps on the day - 128 - but was still 0.653secs adrift of Trulli.

Also ahead of Hamilton was Rosberg's team-mate Kazuki Nakajima and the Ferrari of reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

However, the Hondas of Jenson Button and Alexander Wurz were at the back of the 19-man field.

Barcelona times (Wednesday):

1 J. Trulli Toyota 01:20.801 83 laps
2 D. Coulthard Red Bull 01:21.258 76 laps
3 N. Rosberg Williams 01:21.293 77 laps
4 H. Kovalainen McLaren 01:21.309 87 laps
5 M. Webber Red Bull 01:21.368 91 laps
6 N. Piquet jr. Renault 01:21.443 114 laps
7 F. Alonso Renault 01:21.454 128 laps
8 K. Nakajima Williams 01:21.796 124 laps
9 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:21.933 80 laps
10 L. Hamilton McLaren 01:22.011 88 laps
11 T. Glock Toyota 01:22.155 49 laps
12 G. Fisichella Force India F1 01:22.233 90 laps
13 F. Massa Ferrari 01:22.286 49 laps
14 R. Kubica BMW 01:22.299 93 laps
15 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:22.465 79 laps
16 A. Sutil Force India F1 01:22.521 97 laps
17 N. Heidfeld BMW 01:22.624 61 laps
18 A. Wurz Honda 01:24.154 82 laps
19 J. Button Honda 01:24.275 73 laps