Renault test driver Franck Montagny, who was overlooked by the French outfit in favour of Jacques Villeneuve following the decision to drop Jarno Trulli, was the pace-setter on the first day of testing at Jerez.

Driver-wise, most of the big names are absent this week, either involved in PR work or merely taking breaks out east, rather than flying back to Europe from China, then back out again next week for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Today's test was held in perfect conditions, with blue skies and temperatures reaching 35 degrees C.

Montagny's pace will serve as a major confidence boost for the French outfit, as it prepares for Japan, where it will hope to close the gap to BAR-Honda in the fight for runner-up spot in the championship.

In addition to Montagny, the French outfit had RDD youngster Heikki Kovalainen on duty. The Finn completed 75 laps, finishing sixth quickest.

Today's test will also have given WilliamsF1 a boost, with Marc Gene finishing a mere 0.022s behind Montagny.

The Grove outfit has had an appalling run of bad luck in 2004, losing Ralf Schumacher for six races following his accident at Indianapolis, then designer Gavin Fischer injuring himself in a motorcycle crash. Last Sunday the misery continued, when several members of the team's marketing department were involved in a road accident en-route to the Chinese Grand Prix.

Today came the news that Antonio Pizzonia would be unable to attend the test, the Brazilian having injured an ankle when he slipped on the stairs in his Shanghai hotel. Consequently, Monegasque veteran Olivier Beretta, who drove for the French Larrousse team in 1994, was drafted in to partner regular test driver Gene.

The Spaniard, who concentrated on set-up work and tyre tests, completed 30 laps, while Olivier, who hasn't driven an F1 car since 1994, concentrated on testing different cooling configurations. Interestingly, Beretta was only 1.309s off the pace, completing 86 laps.

It's understood that Ralf Schumacher, who was not originally scheduled to test this week, will join Marc Gene on Wednesday.

BAR had Anthony Davidson and Enrique Bernoldi on duty, as the Honda-powered outfit prepares for its home Grand Prix. Between them, the Brackley testers completed 181 laps, though a gearbox problem cost the English driver valuable track-time in the morning.

Both drivers concentrated on tyre evaluation, with the Brazilian completing two long runs.

McLaren had Pedro de la Rosa and Alexander Wurz on duty, both drivers within 0.5s of Montagny.

Toyota had Jarno Trulli on duty, further fuelling rumours that the Italian will race for the Japanese outfit before the season ends. Unfortunately, the former Renault driver was the latest casualty of the rash of punctures that has hit F1 in the latter stages of the season.

Trulli's car went off, but fortunately there was little damage - though the session was red-flagged. The team later claimed that the puncture was the result of a stone getting lodged in the wheel.

Another driver to have a 'moment', was Ferrari's Luca Badoer, who experienced a far more alarming incident. The Italian suffered brake failure going into Dry Sac, the corner at the end of the main straight.

The F2004 went into the barriers, wedging its nose beneath them. Badoer was taken to the track's medical centre for checks, but subsequently released. Providing the team can get the car repaired in time, it's understood that the Italian will be back in action tomorrow.

Times