The first New Year action for A1GP World Cup of Motorsport was at the highly acclaimed Portimao Circuit in the Algarve last weekend. The series’ test team was in action with Italian F3 Champion, Mirko Bortolotti, at the wheel of the Powered by Ferrari car for the very first time.

The circuit received rave reviews after several Formula One teams tested there at the end of 2008 and Bortolotti certainly agreed with them…

“The track is fantastic but very tricky. We were here to test several new compounds and we have made a very good progress. I am sure that the work that we have done will help the development of the car a lot.”

Commenting on his first taste of the new A1GP car, he continued…

“It was the first time I had tested an A1GP car and I loved it. It is absolutely great. We did a lot of laps, despite the rain in the morning and I hope I can get another chance to test the car.”

Bortolotti joined regular A1GP test driver, Andrea Bertolini, at the three day test.