Toyota concludes successful test

Panasonic Toyota Racing completed its extended test at Barcelona with a final day of running around the Circuit de Catalunya. Unfortunately the mixed weather of the week continued and after the morning dawned sunny, clouds soon took over and rain began falling at 12.30pm.

By then, Ralf Schumacher had already put in over 40 laps of work on aerodynamics and suspension set-up. On the damp track Ralf did some further work on systems but not many more laps due to the limited mileage in this year’s testing regulations. Toyota will return to the same circuit next week for the Spanish Grand Prix, with the race scheduled for Sunday May 13.

Ralf Schumacher – Chassis TF107/01
Best lap time: 1m 22.359s
Position: 6th
Total laps: 49
Total distance: 228.1km
“The weather has been difficult this week but it has still been quite a successful test for us. Today I spent the morning working on some comparisons on aero parts and some suspension set-up. We had no technical problems and we made it through most our programme. Unfortunately we had rain at lunchtime but that is the same for everyone. After that we just concentrated on starts and system work. The week has gone well and I feel positive about the coming grand prix. When we come back here to Barcelona next week we will have a chance to see where we stand against the other teams.”

Gerd Pfeiffer, Test Team Manager “We were expecting more rain today so we adapted our programme accordingly. The morning was dry so we were able to put in some useful mileage looking at aerodynamics and suspension set-up. Once the rain arrived we limited the running we did because this year’s testing regulations mean that we have to be careful not to waste mileage in wet conditions. We did some launches and did some system checks but that was all. Despite the weather, it’s been a positive week of work overall and we have got through everything we had planned. There have been no major technical problems and it sets us up well for next week’s Spanish Grand Prix.”