AC Monza visits Toyota at first day of testing
After a short summer break from testing, Panasonic Toyota Racing began a three-day test today in Monza with race driver Jarno Trulli and test driver Olivier Panis. Although testing was banned since the last test in Jerez, the team back in the factory was hard at work making continuous developments on the car.
The race this last weekend in Turkey proved to be quite challenging for the team and this week's test will be used to make all preparations for the coming race in Monza, where hopes are high for taking home even more points.
Jarno Trulli is happy to be on home ground again and took time out from his test schedule to entertain the local football team, AC Monza Brianza. The football team enjoyed a tour through the garage and heard firsthand from Jarno what a day's work as a race driver entails.
Jarno Trulli "The car ran well today and I liked the balance of the Monza aero package. We worked on tyre testing and braking stability for the race here next week. I was really surprised that the resurfacing of the track felt very well and that grip increased throughout the day, as I though it would be quite slippery. In general, this is definitely a low downforce track and you can feel a difference in the V8 speed in comparison to the V10. There are about 30kmh less in the top speeds coming down the straight. I am still positive about the car and tomorrow we will continue to prepare our set-up."
Olivier Panis "Today the car was working quite well. We have a new aero package for Monza, which felt really good. We had planned to do a lot of long runs to test some tyres for the coming races, but due to a small mechanical problem we only managed to test one set of soft tyres at the end of the day. It was a shame because I truly believe that we have a car to go fast here and you notice that the team has worked hard for this. Overall, I think the team has found a good package for the race here and we will have to see next week how things go."
Gerd Pfeiffer, Test Team Manager "Because Monza is a full-throttle track, engine power and good aerodynamics will play an important role in performance. Thus we are testing different aerodynamic and balance set-ups to see how both cars behave. Generally today has been successful but we did lose a bit of time on Olivier's car when his car had a small mechanical issue to be looked into. Upon doing this, he went out for some installation laps before starting on his tyre programme. Jarno's car underwent some routine gearbox changes, otherwise his car ran fine."
