Valencia Test: Black On Track

After all the fanfare of our launch yesterday, the big moment finally arrived this morning as the R31 took to the track for the very first time.

These moments are always special for the team who have been so emotionally involved in the creation of our new baby. The R31 has been almost a year in the making and there was a great feeling of pride as she rolled out of the garage just after 10:00am this morning with Vitaly behind the wheel.

So far there has not been a massive amount of running – as is to be expected when you're working with a new car. Everybody is learning – the driver, the engineers and the mechanics. These early days are all about solving any teething problems before we get down to more performance-based work in the coming weeks.

Vitaly is in good spirits today and has big smile on his face. He's clearly enjoying getting used to his new toy. He was so excited when he got his first glimpse of the R31 late on Sunday night and proud to be the first man to take here for a spin. I'm sure you'd agree our new car looks absolutely stunning, especially the rear end, which is so neatly packaged. They say that if a car looks quick, then it usually is. And it sounds amazing too, thanks to our innovative exhaust system. It's quite distinctive and I'd say it's the best sounding car in the pit lane.