As Grandprix.com pointed out this morning, Renault were putting the R29 through its paces at Kemble Airport in the Cotswolds today.

After a tip-off from someone who works at the site, I arrived early with our camera. Piquet was on hand to do a number of short runs on a damp runway, before the sun came out around midday. As noted in the article above, the team arrived with a total of five transporters, although if you look at the pictures of Williams attending a similar test last year, they brought four, so it doesn't appear Renault have turned up with an especially high number this time around.

It's the first time I've seen a 2009 specification car up close, and I can't say the Renault looks any better in the flesh than it did during the launch. The livery is striking, especially in overcast conditions, while the (presumably now retuned engine) sounds astonishing.

I've not been near a living F1 car since Goodwood FoS so I'm somewhat excited to have heard and smelt the fantastic machinery today. I can tell you that as I left the test I could still hear the engine screaming away in the distance when I was over 4 miles away.

Update: Here's a video taken from one of the morning runs. The sound is a little messed up by the wind, and you'll probably want to hit the download button to watch in high-definition, it's the only way you'll see the car.

The fact Renault turned up with five trucks today appears have created a significant amount of buzz around the web, so let's take a look at them.

Lovely, aren't they? I guess you could argue it flies in the face of the FIA's attempts at cost cutting measures, but is it inherently wrong and should there be a limit applied to straight line testing too?