Bridgestone sets date for second slick tyre test.

Bridgestone has confirmed that it will conduct a second slick tyre test in April, one week prior to the Spanish Grand Prix, the fourth round in the 2008 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

The Japanese manufacturer held a similar test at the end of last year at Jerez, where all the teams got the opportunity to run with 2009 'prototype' rubber.

The test, which will run from April 14-17 at the Circuit de Catalunya - home of the Spanish GP - is part of an assessment ahead of the proposed return to slick tyres next year.

The FIA Formula 1 World Championship abandoned slicks at the end of 1997, when the sport switched to grooved tyres as part of a drive to try and reduce speeds and in turn improve safety.

"We are looking to a possible bigger change [on the tyre front] for next season, and that is why we will be evaluating our latest slick development tyre when we next test in April," confirmed Bridgestone Motorsport's technical manager, Tetsuro Kobayashi.

Bridgestone's tyres for this season meanwhile will be basically the same as last year, with only minor developments made in the interests of safety.

Following the final group test this week at the Circuit de Catalunya - where the hard compound tyre was used - Bridgestone stated that the 'performance was good' and that no 'major issues were reported'.

Bridgestone also added that the medium and soft compound tyres will be used at the Australian GP, the same specifications as used there in 2007.

"Bridgestone are confident heading to Melbourne," Kobayashi added. "The changes are very minor evolutions to the tyre construction and relate to safety.

"In terms of car setup and driver feel, there is no difference from last year's tyres so all the data accumulated last season is of use. We have modified the super soft compound, but this will not be seen in use until later in the year. The other compounds, the hard, medium and soft, are the same as last year.

"We will soon announce our tyre compound allocations for each race for the first half of the season, and teams have already been informed of these decisions."