Thursday 17 April at 11:38 : Sebastien Bourdais gave Toro Rosso's 2008 car an ignominious public debut on Wednesday by crashing the STR3 at high speed.

The Frenchman emerged unhurt from the new car, which was damaged badly on the left side, after hitting the tyre barriers on the outside of turn nine at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.

Bourdais, 29, was giving the car its proper test debut, ahead of its expected maiden outing at the Turkish grand prix next month.

The crash ended the Faenza based team's activities on Wednesday, and it has called into question teammate Sebastian Vettel's scheduled day at the wheel for Thursday.

The cause of the accident is not known, but Bourdais immediately looked towards the rear of the car, which is based on sister team Red Bull's RB4 contender, as he emerged from the cockpit.

The Ferrari powered STR3 - featuring the same dorsal fin that adorns the RB4 - was then covered by team members during the resulting red flag period, before it was loaded onto a truck and returned to pitlane.

When it arrived in the pits, it became clear that the impact had damaged not only the rear wing and wheel, but also the front of the car, including the left wheel and wing.

Rain is expected to disrupt the final day of the test on Thursday.