Irvine: Burti loss is Ferrari gain.

Eddie Irvine has told journalists that he wanted Luciano Burti to rejoin Jaguar as test driver after his shunt in last year's Belgian Grand Prix.

Instead, the Brazilian was snapped up by Ferrari and the opening at Milton Keynes filled by former Jaguar Racing F3 star Andre Lotterer, who looked likely to miss out on a race seat anywhere following the collapse of the junior arm of the team.

Ironically, it was Irvine with whom Burti collided at Spa-Francorchamps last September, sending the Prost driver heavily into the Blanchimont barriers and out of the cockpit for four months with concussion and cranial bruising. The Irishman was on the scene for Burti's extraction from the tyre wall, and the relationship between the pair - good while the Brazilian was Irvine's team-mate at Jaguar - continued strongly during his recuperation, to the extent that Irvine allegedly recommended him to Niki Lauda for the vacant role of test driver in 2002.

"I spoke to Niki about trying to get him to be our tester this year, and it's a shame we missed out," the Irishman recounted at last week's Jaguar launch, "He's one of the best guys I've ever worked with technically, very clever and a very good test driver. It's a big loss for Jaguar and a big gain for Ferrari."

Burti stood in for Irvine in the 2000 season Austrian GP, and then replaced Johnny Herbert alongside the Irishman for 2001. However, just four races into Bobby Rahal's reign as team chief, the Brazilian was moved to Prost so that the more experienced Pedro de la Rosa could take over the second R2.

Jaguar's other former F3 driver, James Courtney was expected to fulfil the role of test driver in 2002, but his junior commitments with Carlin Motorsport mean that a second driver will have to help out. Courtney and Lotterer were team-mates in 2001, with the Australian getting marginally the upper hand over the course of the British F3 season.

Lotterer is not expected to get his first run in the Jaguar at this week's Barcelona test, but Burti is slated to make his debut at the wheel of a Ferrari alongside regular tester Luca Badoer.