Toyota's day shortened by sand storm

Panasonic Toyota Racing's second day of testing in Bahrain was brought to an early close today after heavy winds led to a sandstorm at the Sakhir venue. The morning began with clear skies but after just one and a half hours of running time the skies darkened with sand from the surrounding desert.

The safety helicopter was grounded at 9.30am and the wait for improved conditions proved fruitless for the three teams in action. Following yesterday's successful run, Timo Glock had to curtail his continued work on aerodynamics and set-up for the new TF109. He will now hand over to Jarno Trulli, who will hope for better luck as Toyota continues its test tomorrow.

Timo Glock - Chassis TF109-01
Best lap time: 1min 34.902s
Position: 3rd out of 3
Total laps: 14
"That was short and sweet for us today. After our positive day of running yesterday we had another full programme planned but the weather had other ideas. I could feel the strong wind during the laps that we did manage in the morning. Then the sandstorm put an end to the day's action. That's frustrating because the car is showing good promise so we will hope for better conditions in the coming days."

Dieter Gass, Chief Engineer Race and Test
"It's ironic that we had a sandstorm today after coming to Bahrain to guarantee more running time. Still, we have six more days here and we remain confident that we will reap the rewards of better conditions during the rest of the test."