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Former 500cc Motorcycle World Champion Wayne Gardner has been enthused by his first practice session in his 2002 V8 Supercar.

The test session - the last for the season for Queensland-based Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) - was held at Willowbank Raceway, west of Brisbane.

Each V8 Supercar team is allocated 12 test sessions, which can be carried out at a limited number of tracks in their home state.

Gardner approached the test confident of Stone Brothers’ ability to produce a competitive V8 and in his own ability to produce decent times.

"I wasn’t disappointed," Gardner said.

"The session provided me with an introduction to the team and allowed me to decide on a set-up direction for the car.

"The SBR V8 was definitely as good as Seton’s car, which I have driven a lot before, but the Caltex car will only improve with further testing.

"The car is already very fast and I know I can improve it a lot more, which makes the whole proposition very exciting for both the team and me.

"When you make changes to the set up of some cars you don’t get any response, but every change to the Caltex car during the test was met with an immediate response," Gardner said.

"I’m feeling very positive going into next year and hungry for results."

Team manager Ross Stone was equally buoyed by the test.

"One of the compromises you face with rookie drivers is their lack of experience with car set up and feedback," Stone said.

"Wayne brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in that area.

"Today was only our first test, but we saw enough to get pretty excited about next year.

"Wayne and David should work together well - and the combination should bring the best out of both of them."

The team are still yet to confirm which three Championship rounds Gardner will contest in the V8 in 2002. The decision will depend on the finalising of the Japanese GT Series calendar.