STR2's track debut postponed after red flag

It was a case of so near and yet so far for our new car, the Scuderia Toro Rosso STR2 as it hoped to beat the clock and get out on track for the first time at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona today.

The car had arrived from Faenza the day before and the mechanics worked through the night and all of today, preparing it for action. Half an hour before the 5pm end of track time, Tonio Liuzzi was in the garage, dressed in his race suit. With 20 minutes to go, Ricardo Adami, Tonio's engineer, told him to go get his helmet and gloves. Ten minutes to go and he was in the car, while a couple of minutes later, the sound of a V8 engine was heard singing through the garage for the first time. With five minutes to go, the mechanics were poised and ready to remove the tyre warming blankets and then....silence. A red flag was waved after another car stopped out on track and had to be recovered with a safety vechicle. Pretty much the entire team was in the garage and they all had their fingers crossed, hoping the circuit director would allow an extension of testing, past the five o'clock deadline. Unfortunately, although its is more normal for a red rag to make a Toro charge quickly, this time the red flag had stopped the Toro Rosso in its tracks. But at least the car had been built up and will be ready to go when the final day of test session starts tomorrow morning at nine.

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