Albatec Racing, the Scottish team, have completed their first test as they target the FIA World Rallycross Championship in the hands of the former Formula 1 world champ, Jacques Villeneuve.

The 42-year-old French-Canadian, who won the F1 crown in 1997 with Williams, put his new Peugeot 208 Supercar through its paces at Lydden Hill in Kent yesterday.

"It's vital Jacques gets as much track time as possible, on different circuits, to help him acclimatise to a world rallycross car," said Andy Scott, team principal at the Dumfries-based outfit.

"We chose Lydden Hill, the home of rallycross in the UK, as it's the perfect circuit for this, providing a good mixture of challenges, requiring very fast and precise lines and braking points.

"It was also good for him to drive on a rallycross circuit that's on the world championship schedule, as it gives him the chance to experience the whole atmosphere of racing in an amphitheatre circuit.

"As expected, he was immediately fast and just got quicker and quicker as the day progressed."

Villeneuve completed 10 four-lap runs at the track, which will, host the second round of the world championship on May 24/25.

"It's great to finally drive on a proper world championship rallycross track with a combination of asphalt and gravel," said Villeneuve. "You don't do rallycross because of the jet set; you do it because of the racing, so now I'm really looking forward to going head-to-head with the other drivers at the first round in Portugal."

The opening round of the 12-round championship takes place in Portugal on May 3/4.