Foster happy as Zytek shows potential.

Trevor Foster left last weekend's Le Mans Endurance Series warm-up at Paul Ricard a satisfied man, after the Essex Invest 'factory' Zytek proved a force to be reckoned with in its first official test.

Would-be GP2 star Hayanari Shimoda set the third fastest lap overall as the team demonstrated the seriousness of its 2005 campaign ahead of the first round of the LMES, at Spa, on 15-16 April. The Zytek 04S ran spectacularly on sporadic outings in 2004 but, now further refined and in the hands of veteran John Nielsen and his young co-drivers, gave the established opposition something to think about.

With the new partnership of Nielsen, Shimoda and Casper Elgaard at the wheel, the team covered 900km over the two-day test, with the Japanese third of the line-up showing the car's capability with a fastest lap of 1min 39.868secs to place third among the 23 cars on track over the two days.

"The regulations have changed this year, with smaller air intake restrictors on the engine, and we are carrying 20kg extra ballast - but they could actually do us a favour," Foster commented, "A quick, agile car should run really well in the new configuration, and we've done a lot of development work over the winter."

The team is now finalising the preparation of its 04S for the Spa 1000km endurance race next weekend.