Successful end of Barcelona test for Toyota

Panasonic Toyota Racing concluded the penultimate test of 2007 with a useful day’s work at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. Once again, the focus was on preparation for the 2008 regulations changes, with Jarno Trulli and Franck Montagny gathering information on new items and making set-up comparisons.

Franck, on his last day of testing in his role as third driver, kept up his good work evaluating the 2008 standard ECU and enjoyed a productive morning, clocking almost 40 laps and setting encouraging lap times. With the 30,000km annual testing limit in mind and also to allow his crew to make adjustments, Jarno only completed installation laps in the morning. In the afternoon he enjoyed a solid stint behind the wheel, evaluating set-ups using 2007 electronics but without traction control. Franck kept up his hard work on the electronics system and other development parts and completed a suitably positive end to his final day behind the wheel for the team. The final test of the season is at Jerez in Spain for four days from December 4.

Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF107/03
Best Lap Time: 1min 23.064s
Position: 14th
Total laps: 52
Total distance: 242.06km
“I think today went well. We did everything we had planned in our programme. Everybody can see we have not done a lot of laps each day this week because we are a bit limited on the mileage. But we managed to do a lot of good work and we got a lot of interesting information from our set-up work so we have a better understanding of several areas which will be very helpful for the 2008 car. It has been a good test and I am pleased with the work we have done.”

Franck Montagny - Chassis TF107/06
Best Lap Time: 1min 21.363s
Position: 3rd
Total laps: 85
Total distance: 395.695km
“It was my last day driving for the team and it has been a good day, which I am happy about. Yesterday was not so great, we made a mistake on tyre pressures and we had a few problems, but today everything went pretty well - we set decent lap times and everything was very consistent. We worked hard and I think we have made a good step forwards. Even though this car is not the 2008 version, it still has quite a few new items on it and we have made good progress with them. I hope for the team that we have moved in the right direction. I would like to thank all the team for everything throughout the year because at times it has been a bit frustrating with a lot of watching and not as much driving. But everyone in the team has been very supportive and good with me and I have enjoyed working with them, so I thank them for that.”

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis “We had a successful end to the test and both drivers completed all the work we planned for them. It has been a useful three days in general because we have tested several items looking ahead to next season, including the standard ECU. Overall we have made good progress with the system, even though we had some minor issues during the course of the test. We also looked at set-up with the 2008 control system and made some interesting comparisons which should help us for next season. I think we can be pleased with what we have achieved and we will continue to work hard in preparation for 2008, both at the factory and at the next test.”