JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, Spain - Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi staked his claim for one of the two open slots in the Toro Rosso team for 2009 by posting the fastest time at Formula One testing on Wednesday.
Buemi outpaced his rivals Takuma Sato of Japan and France's Sebastien Bourdais in fine weather at the circuit at Jerez de la Frontera on Tuesday, posting a time of 1 minute 18.073 seconds.
Sato, 31, who has been without a drive since the collapse of the Super Aguri team earlier this year, posted the second-best time of 1.18.601, with Bourdais third on 1.18.673.
All three are competing for the two places at Toro Rosso, where Germany's Sebastien Vettel has left for Red Bull.
Buemi also recorded the fastest time at Tuesday's session, held in damp conditions.
Spain's Pedro de la Rosa was fourth in a McLaren ahead of former world champion Kimi Raikkonen in a Ferrari.
Double world champion Fernando Alonso of Renault, who took the track for the first time this week, was seventh.
"This morning I had a problem and I went off and I hit the barriers and I lost two hours... But thanks to the team, they did a quick repair to the car and I was able to run without problems," said Alonso.
