BMW Williams driver Chinese Ho-Pin Tung is seen during a training session in the pits at Jerez race ring. [AFP]

Williams' new Chinese test driver Ho-Ping Tung made his debut in a Formula One car in pre-season trials.

The 21-year-old, the first driver from China to test a F1 car, completed 41 laps in the session in which McLaren's Spanish test driver Pedro de la Rosa emerged quickest for the second day in a row.

Tung, who registered a best time of 1:22.082, won this year's Asian Formula BMW championship, winning 10 of the 14 races.

Tung, from Wenzhou, 500km south of Shanghai, said: "After driving a 140bhp Formula BMW car last season, stepping into a 900bhp Formula One car was terrifying as well as the fulfilment of a lifetime's ambition in equal measure."

He added he was proud to be the first Chinese driver to achieve the feat and was stunned by the performance of the car.

"It was like a drug," he remarked.

China stages its first ever grand prix next year in Shanghai, a point not lost on team boss Frank Williams.

"I believe his engagement with the BMW Williams F1 Team in Jerez will only serve to stimulate valuable interest in F1 in one of the few remaining virgin territories for the sport," said Williams.

Tung, who drove for Team Meritus which was the former team of Japanese F1 driver Takuma Sato, only missed out on one pole position during the season.

If he does well he might have a future with Williams who need to find a replacement for Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya who leaves for McLaren in 2005.

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