James Thompson declared himself a happy man after N.Technology concluded two days of testing with its new World Touring Car Championship challenger at Valencia.
Having sat out the opening rounds of the year in Mexico and Brazil to work on bringing the Honda Accord Euro R up to speed ahead of the European campaign, the team joined its rivals for two days of testing at the Spanish circuit – which will be the venue for the Accord's debut next month.
On the opening day of running, Thompson completed 54 laps with a best time of 1min 44.168secs being good enough for the tenth fastest time amongst the drivers on track, a solid start for team and driver with the new car.
"We have a lot of work to do as this is our first official test," he said afterwards. "But we're working hard, we're completing good runs and making sure we'll be competitive for the next WTCC rounds.
"That's our main agenda for this week and the whole team is focused on this. In any case, it feels great to be back behind the wheel again; I feel like a kid with a new toy!"
On the second day of the test, Thompson posted the quickest time during the afternoon which was good enough for sixth fastest overall on the day and the Briton declared himself happy with how the test had gone.
"This week's trackside work has been really encouraging," he said. "There are a few things that will need working on back at the factory, but otherwise we're really pleased with our progress.
"The team's dedicated spirit really helped towards doing so well today; a lot of thinking has gone on over the past two days to ensure we are at our most competitive for next month's races in Valencia."