Even though he gave up the chance to race for the Scuderia Toro Rosso team earlier in the 2009 season due to his commitments in the European Formula 3 and World Series by Renault championships, New Zealand racer Brendon Hartley is hoping that next week’s young driver test at the Jerez circuit in Southern Spain will give him a decent shot at the available seat with the Faenza based squad.

While some media outlets are reporting that Jaime Alguersuari’s seat has been confirmed for next year, the team are yet to agree with them, meaning that there could still b e a drive worth chasing in the Red Bull sister team. Hartley has been a member of the Red Bull junior program for the past three years, but due to a tough 2009 season, he knows that Toro Rosso may be his only shot at entering the pinnacle of Motorsports in 2010, and to try and secure that outcome, he needs to really impress in Spain next week.

"Everything depends on how the testing goes," his brother Nelson told New Zealand’s Manawatu Standard.  "He's had a pretty tough season, not enough results for them to want to put him straight into a car. There might be a vacancy in Toro Rosso, and whether it would go to Brendon or not, no-one knows."

Hartley will be joined at the session by Italian Formula Two racer Mirko Bortolotti with Brendon testing on day one and day three.