Kovalainen leads the way at Barca test.

The GP2 Series took its first steps outside of the Paul Ricard circuit, touching down in Spain for the first day of a rare test session away from its adopted home circuit.

For the first time, the entire 24-car grid consisted of confirmed drivers, with the entry deadline for the 2005 season having passed overnight, and Super Nova International finally confirming which two pilots it would run. And, despite all the speculation following last week's official series launch, David Sears' team managed to pull off something of a surprise by revealing that ex-F1 driver Giorgio Pantano's partner would be none other than Northern Ireland's Adam Carroll, who first tested with the British outfit at the initial GP2 group test two months ago.

Despite appearing, in recent weeks, to be something of an outside shot for the ride owing to the usual British tail of frustrating budget hunting, Carroll showed few signs of ring rust, appearing in the top five early on, before being classified ahead of his highly-rated team-mate, in eight overall at the end of day one.

Heading the timesheets was Heikki Kovalainen, the Arden driver adding weight to the suggestion that F3000 champion's Arden International hadn't been trying too hard in last week's 'race number qualifying' session. Despite undergoing an engine change halfway through the day, the Finn was among the pacesetters throughout, eventually moving to the head of the times with a lap of 1min 25.988secs, set in the dying moments of the afternoon session.

Barcelona is expected to be one of the most challenging circuits the GP2 Series visits in 2005, with its abrasive tarmac surface and varied combination of corners and long straights. Tyre partner Bridgestone duly brought along its hard-compound tyre but, thanks to the recent amount of F1 testing carried out at the circuit, the timesheets were ticking over quickly.

Kovalainen was followed by perennial pacesetter Ernesto Viso, driving a GP2 car for the first time on BCN Competicion's 'home' circuit, while Hitech Piquet Sport's Nelson Piquet Jr continued to show his potential, this time in front of father Nelson Piquet Sr, who was attending his first GP2 test.

The Spaniards enjoyed a decent day at home, with Borja Garcia and Neel Jani claiming fourth and fifth fastest times for reigning national F3 champion Racing Engineering, and Sergio Hernandez looking promising in the first of the Campos Racing cars. Behind Jani, ex-F1 driver Gianmaria Bruni lived up to his promise of finding speed at the final test, coming in sixth ahead of DAMS Jose Maria Lopez, Carroll, Alex Premat (ART) and Pantano.

Scott Speed, carrying the #1 plate proudly earned at last week's Paul Ricard launch, was close to the top of the times early on, but ended the day down in 19th spot, four behind BCN's Hiroki Yoshimoto, who also looked pacy in the morning session.

The reliability problems which again raised their head at the last Paul Ricard test were not as evident this time around, with teams having more time to correct any 'finger trouble' that had crept in in France, and both Dallara and Renault getting to grips with technical issues on chassis and engine respectively. While the bodywork gremlins which worried the teams at earlier tests were few and far between, gearboxes and other mechanical areas were under scrutiny in Spain, with particular attention being focused on possible clutch problems that saw more than one car stall at practice getaways a week ago.

The final day of pre-season testing takes place tomorrow [Thursday]

Leading performances (13 April) - Barcelona:

Heikki Kovalainen Arden 1min 25.998secsErnesto Viso BCN 1min 26.033secsNelson Piquet Jr Hitech Piquet 1min 26.078secsBorja Garcia Racing Engineering 1min 26.186secsNeel Jani Racing Engineering 1min 26.220secsGianmaria Bruni Coloni 1min 26.267secsJose Maria Lopez DAMS 1min 26.313secsAdam Carroll Super Nova 1min 26.428secsAlex Premat ART 1min 26.540secsGiorgio Pantano Super Nova 1min 26.541secsOlivier Pla DPR 1min 26.559secsNico Rosberg ART 1min :26.597secsNicolas Lapierre Arden 1min 26.603secsSergio Hern?ndez Campos 1min 26.639secsHiroki Yoshimoto BCN 1min 26.740secsClivio Piccione Durango 1min 26.939secsFairuz Fauzy DAMS 1min 26.951secsJuan Cruz Alvarez Campos 1min 27.210secsScott Speed iSport 1min 27.265secsAlexandre Negr?o Hitech Piquet 1min 27.517secsCan Artam iSport 1min 27.518secsRyan Sharp DPR 1min 27.581secsFerdinando Monfardini Durango 1min 27.637secsMathias Lauda Coloni 1min 29.247secs