The brand new 2012 Toro Rosso machine will take part in Formula One's first pre-season test of the year, the team confirmed on Thursday, after announcing that their new car had passed all of the required FIA crash tests.
Toro Rosso are the latest team to confirm their plans for the opening test of the season, with the 2012 pre-season campaign set to kick off on February 7th at the Jerez circuit.
The new Toro Rosso car, dubbed the 'TR7' by the team in their official confirmation, will be present at the test with new drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
For 2012, the FIA has insisted that all new cars pass the crash tests before the start of testing, rather than the first race of the season.
"Having previously passed various static crash tests, today, our new car, the TR7, passed all remaining FIA crash tests," the team bragged in a statement.
"This year they were even more stringent, as the sport's governing body continues to pursue safety as one of its main aims in the sport."
They added: "We now know the car is strong enough and as from 7 February in Jerez, we can start work on making it quick and reliable."
According to reports, the TR7 will be given its track debut by Ricciardo, the Australian reportedly set to take part in the first two days of the test.
Vergne will then take over for the second half of the test, to get his own taste of his new car.
The Toro Rosso statement did not include confirmation of their car's launch date, though it will likely join in the litany of launches in the days before the first test day.
F1 teams are racing to be ready for the Jerez test, with the new crash test requirements constricting their design timetables.
With only 12 days of testing available before the start of the 2012 season, most teams are keen to give their 2012 cars as much track time as possible.
However, Mercedes, Marussia and HRT are all reportedly set to skip the first test and debut their new cars at the second test of the year in Barcelona.
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