Toyota joins action
Panasonic Toyota Racing has entered today the last leg of its winter testing in Valencia ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher were at the wheel to resume final race preparations and testing of the Bridgestone tyres. Both will continue testing tomorrow to conclude the pre-season test programme. The drivers as well as the whole team are anxious to get the season underway to see how their hard work during the winter will unfold at the first races.
Ralf Schumacher put more mileage on the new car concentrating on set-up work.
Ralf Schumacher - Chassis TF106/05
Best lap time: 1m11.121s
Total laps: 60
Total distance: 240.0km
Ralf Schumacher"After really first testing the new car in Barcelona, where the weather was rather cold, it was good to have another chance to drive the new TF106 at Valencia today. We continued working on the tyres and although we had less mileage today than expected due to a minor electronic problem, the car stayed reliable and so in general we are happy with the day's programme."
Panasonic Toyota Racing's Jarno Trulli had a positive day of running, putting in over 80 laps of the winding Valencia circuit.
Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF106/02
Best lap time: 1m12.163s
Total laps: 80
Total distance: 320.0km
Jarno Trulli"This has been a good day of running here at Valencia. We were able to do some set-up work and tyre comparisons. We also worked on some small test items to prepare for the new season, like different oil-level set-ups. This caused some smoke in the morning, but this is of no worry for us it was something we were purposely testing. All in all, we have gained some good mileage and look forward to pushing hard until the end of tomorrow to gain the confidence we need before the first race."
Panasonic Toyota Racing made good progress over the day's work at Valencia, with both cars showing reliable progress.
Gerd Pfeiffer, Test Team Manager "We had a productive day today and we got through a lot of work. Although both drivers carried out their own individual tyre testing programmes, Ralf focused on testing the new car and getting a feel for it, while Jarno tried simulating some race conditions in one of the older cars, as his new car is being prepared for the first grand prix. Basically we are focused on fine-tuning the car this week for the race in Bahrain. I feel that both drivers are doing a good job and the cars are running reliably."
