New Honda makes Valencia debut

Honda RA 108 in all-white livery

(GMM) Honda's new car for the 2008 season, the RA108, made its track debut at Valencia on Wednesday morning.

The all-white single seater, devoid of sponsorship, rolled onto the twisty Spanish test venue in the hands of Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello.

It is visibly different to the Japanese team's 2007 challenger, the RA107, which powered Barrichello and his British teammate Jenson Button to a miserable eighth place in the constructors' championship last year.

The Brackley built RA108, whose official livery will be unveiled in England next Tuesday, features a higher nose than its predecessor, and notably angular bodywork.

Elsewhere on the Valencia circuit, Australian Mark Webber's first day at the wheel of the new Red Bull did not start well when the car had to be returned to the pits on the back of a flat-bed truck.