Positive end of Bahrain test week for Toyota
After two days of interruptions from the sandstorm that hit Bahrain this week, the Panasonic Toyota Racing team finally returned to the track today. With the last of the lingering sand finally leaving the Sakhir area, there were no further interruptions.
In spite of continued strong winds, the three teams in action put in a full day's work. Jarno Trulli was at the wheel of the TF109, working on set-up and tyres. He had a positive day and was able to complete well over 100 laps. Toyota will return to the Bahrain International Circuit on Monday to begin the second week of testing here with Jarno at the wheel.
Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF109-01
Best lap time: 1min 33.429s
Position: 2nd out of 3
Total laps: 127
"This was a good day's work. In the morning the track conditions were still really poor with a lot of dust on the circuit. It was also very windy but the surface cleaned up during the day and got better and better. We managed to get through a lot of laps and the car balance felt pretty good. We are still playing around with set-up and other parameters to understand how to get the most out of the package. But it looks promising so far so let's hope we can carry on like this."
Dieter Gass, Chief Engineer Race and Test: "That was finally the kind of day that you expect when you go for winter testing in Bahrain. After the interruptions of the last two days, we enjoyed fine weather with perfect sunshine throughout the sessions. There was still some wind which made the comparisons harder, but we were able to get through a lot of laps. We looked at different tyres and some set-up development directions. It is not often that we get through two race distances in a day so that bodes well for our reliability. Overall it has been a positive end to the week."
