Quintarelli to join Spyker at Silverstone test.

Despite naming its three 'reserve' drivers for the remaining grands prix this season, Spyker MF1 continues to give untapped talent a chance to sample Formula One power with the announcement that Ronnie Quintarelli will be behind the wheel of an M16 today [Wednesday].

The Italian, who currently races in Japan's Formula Nippon series, will run alongside confirmed Chinese GP reserve Alex Premat as testing resumes at Silverstone. According to sources at Spyker, the former karting ace is a driver that it has been interested in testing for some time.

"I keep a close eye on the Formula Nippon Series, as it has a good crop of emerging talent, and I am very happy to have Quintarelli driving for the team this week," team principal Colin Kolles revealed, "I hope that he has a successful test with the team."

At 27, Quintarelli is somewhat older than today's usual F1 debutant, but has shown promise during his FNippon season with the Inging Motorsport team. Already well-known to the squad thanks to four years spent with them in the national F3 series, the Italian also has Formula Renault experience from his brief career on the European single-seater ladder.

"I am very happy to have the opportunity to drive an F1 car, as this is an excellent step for my career," Quintarelli insisted, "I have had some successful seasons in Japan and this is a great way to take a step forward. I would like to thank Dr Kolles and the team for the opportunity to test, and the Inging Motorsport team in Japan for their support."

Should he prove successful on his first outing in an F1 car, Quintarelli can expect to be added to the list of hopefuls aiming for a spot on Spyker's testing roster for next season. Under its previous guise as Midland MF1, the team ran no fewer than three reserves during the 2006 season - Adrian Sutil, Giorgio Mondini and Markus Winkelhock - and Spyker will introduce two more - Premat and Ernesto Viso - during the final three 'flyaway' races.

Although the policy is admirable in as far as handing talented youngsters a taste of F1, however, it has attracted some criticism for failing to provide consistent levels of feedback for the race team, and it will be interesting to see how many hopefuls make it on to the final squad for 2007, particularly as Friday practice will no longer admit third cars from teams outside the top four in the constructors' championship.