Toyota strengthen 4th place in championship at European GP
The Panasonic Toyota team has done another good job in the championship standings today at the European Grand Prix in Valencia. Jarno Trulli finished the race in 5th position bringing home 4 points and team mate Timo Glock assured his team of 2 extra points by finishing 7th. The is now 10 points ahead of rival Renault in the championship and 17 ahead of Red Bull Racing.
Jarno Trulli (Car 11, Chassis TF108-05)
Summary: From 7th, he made a good start and maintained his position into the first corner. He spent the first stint held up behind Sebastian Vettel's Toro Rosso but made the most of two extra laps of fuel to pass at the first stop. Gained another place late on due to Kimi Raikkonen's slow pit stop and raced well from there to take four points for a fine 5th place.
Race Classification: 5th (+50.684s)
Qualifying Classification: 7th Lap Time: 1m 40.309s (+1.320s in Q3) Grid: 7th
"That was a good result and a great performance by the team. The weekend started badly for me but it has finished really well today so I'm happy. I could drive a strong race without attacking much. I pushed very hard when I needed to while paying attention to taking care of my tyres and my brakes throughout. This shows how good we are getting and how nice it is to race with a competitive car every weekend. Toyota is doing a very good job this year and looking strong and more competitive at every circuit. The team is still pushing with the development work so I'm confident that we can maintain the form in the coming races and keep the points coming."
Timo Glock (Car 12, Chassis TF108-06)
Summary: From 13th on the grid, he made a very strong getaway, gaining three places on the first lap despite being heavily fuelled on a one-stop strategy. Made ground as others pitted, making it up to 5th place before his stop. He defended well on his long stint on the option tyre, taking two valuable points.
Race Classification: 7th (+1m 07.990s)
Qualifying Classification: 13th Lap Time: 1m 38.499s (+0.657s in Q2) Grid: 13th
"That was one of my hardest races ever because I have had a bad cold for the last two days. But I had a good car and the right strategy and I think P7 was the best result we could have achieved today so I'm really happy. I made up some places at the start and then just tried to do my race. It was tough in the middle of the race and in the last 10 laps I pushed as hard as I could to stay concentrated. Considering our qualifying and my condition, I am happy. It's a great result for the team to get both cars into the points for the constructors' championship."
Tadashi Yamashina, Team Principal: "This has turned into one of those good weekends. After qualifying, everybody was a bit disappointed but today went much better due to excellent teamwork. After Jarno missed Saturday's practice session, the crew put Timo's set-up into Jarno's car and he delivered a very good performance and a very smooth race to 5th place today. Timo was not feeling well but he made an excellent start, managed his tyres well and put in a huge effort to complete this race with the best result. I'm very happy that we are confirming our good pace. Now we will push to keep these results coming, with a particular eye on the Japanese Grand Prix later in the season."
What's Next?
Panasonic Toyota Racing will next hit the track for a three-day test at Monza beginning on Wednesday 27 August in preparation for the coming races including September's Italian Grand Prix at the same circuit. The next racing action takes place in a fortnight's time at Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian GP.
