The Frenchman, who last year tested a Renault F1 car at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit on the French Riviera, completed 82 laps of the Catalan track, recording a fastest lap of 1:22.503.

By way of comparison, Japanese driver Takuma Sato - who has over 90 F1 grands prix under his belt - set the day's fastest lap time with 1:20.763.

'I hoped that I wouldn't be too far (off the pace) and I'm especially happy with how it felt at the end today, when I improved my time,' Loeb said afterwards.

'Bit by bit I started to feel more at ease and began to relax, so it went better towards the end.'

A number of F1 teams were present at the circuit, with around 15 drivers performing test laps, some in the hope of earning a driving contract for the 2009 season.

Loeb, 34, has often claimed that he is 'too old' to compete in F1 full-time, but is scheduled to test a Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP at Paul Ricard HTTT on November 27. -- AFP