Minardi has announced that official test driver, Chanoch Nissany, will take on the role of Friday test driver at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

The way was cleared for Nissany to become the first Israeli driver to participate in a Formula One event when he was granted the necessary Superlicence earlier this week.

He has completed nearly 1600 kms of Formula One testing in the last year, and also competed in the Hungarian, Belgian and Italian rounds of the FIA F3000 International Championship in 2004. Initially, this will be a one-off programme for Nissany, whose close connections with Budapest should make him a crowd favourite when action gets under way at the Hungaroring on Friday.

"We are very pleased that, after an extensive F1 testing programme, Chanoch will be able to assume the role of Friday Test Driver for the team at the Hungarian Grand Prix," said Team Principal, Paul Stoddart. "Aside from providing our technical staff with useful additional data, I'm sure Chanoch's presence on track this weekend will help to raise the profile of Formula One in both Israel and Hungary, where he is a very popular figure. This can only be a good thing for the overall health of the World Championship."

This will be the first time this year that Minardi has run a third car.