Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide shook down the team’s first car, which is based on a four-year-old ex-Arrows chassis but will be replaced with an all-new model in April.

Despite mechanical problems, which included Sato only competing 10 laps on his test debut, chief technical officer Mark Preston expects to surprise critics who have predicted embarrassment.

“The team has delivered more than anyone imagined possible before we came to Barcelona and this makes us confident that our performance in Bahrain will be acceptable,” he said.

“These three days have helped to gel the team together. The engine performed faultlessly, which is a good indicator of our reliability for the first race.

“The test fulfilled our requirements and we were able to solve a number of systems-related issues.

“Overall the team is tired following a week of very hard work, but amazingly we have achieved all of our goals and we are now looking forward to ticking the next box on the list – our test at Silverstone next week.”

Sato, for whom the new team has been set up, offered his praise but warned of a long road ahead if he is to add to his 40 points in Formula One.

The former BAR driver said: “I am very proud of everybody in the team who has made this test happen with such a tough schedule.

“In terms of performance we need to work hard, but at least this has been an encouraging start and I am so pleased that everyone has done such a great job.”

This week’s test was conducted with illegal bodywork, a legacy of the four-year-old chassis, but Super Aguri plan to test their 2006 aerodynamics at Silverstone next week prior to the first race on March 12.