Zoom A different kind of workday for Loeb!

The first test of the winter got underway today in Spain under sunny conditions and, at the wheel of the RB4 as part of a "thank you" from Red Bull for winning the World Rally Championship yet again, the Red Bull Racing driver on hand for the team was five-time titleholder Sebastien Loeb.

Having had a shakedown at Silverstone last week, the Frenchman had a better idea of what to expect and produced an excellent performance throughout the day, setting the eight-fastest time only two seconds off the best lap recorded by Takuma Sato aboard the Toro Rosso car.

After spending most of the morning settling in and finding a good balance with the RB4, Loeb was actually put to more "serious" use in the afternoon, evaluating the Bridgestone slick tyres that will be used in 2009 and providing the team with valuable data.

"I don't think I'd like to take this much horsepower into the forests!" quipped the quintuple rally champion. "It was a great experience and I had fun, although I have to say that driving one of these cars is tougher physically than driving my rally car."

"Towards the end of the day, I began to get a good feel for the car and enjoyed the sensation of it moving around on the track. I have to say that the level of grip in the high speed corners is very impressive," Loeb reported.

The 34-year-old, whose neck felt a bit sore after the test, repeated that a full-time career in Formula One was out of the question.

The test-driving adventure isn't over for Loeb however: on November 27th he will be taking the wheel of Peugeot's Le Mans series contender, the diesel-powered 908 HDI FAP.

D.B. © CAPSIS International