Honda pleased with first Bridgestone test.

Chief engineer of vehicle performance Mark Ellis said the Honda F1 team was pleased with its first test on Bridgestone tyres at Catalunya, although his admitted there is still a long way to go in adapting to the rubber the team will race on next season.

The team kicked off its preparations for the 2007 with a three-day test at the Spanish circuit, with race driver Rubens Barrichello running on all three days in one car while test drivers James Rossiter and Christian Klien shared the sister car - Jenson Button having been forced to miss the test due to an injury sustained while karting.

While a series of set-up changes on the RA106 was part of the week's work, a major part of the three-day programme focused on an intensive evaluation of the Bridgestone tyres and Ellis said he was happy with the initial findings.

"Our on-track preparations for the 2007 season started this week, with our primary focus on learning about the new Bridgestone tyres and developing the relationship with our new partner," he said. "It is early days and there is obviously a long way to go in adapting the car to optimise the performance of the tyres, but we are pleased with the progress we have made throughout this week.

"We have methodically collected a huge amount of data that will be analysed ahead of next week's test in Jerez where we will continue our work with the new tyres. We are pleased that Christian has adapted well to working with the team and was able to contribute positively to the programme in his first test."