Toyota says goodbye to Franck Montagny

Today’s final day of testing at Barcelona marked Franck Montagny’s last day behind the wheel as third driver for Panasonic Toyota Racing. The Frenchman will not drive for the team at Jerez in December so test team members took the opportunity to say goodbye to a popular third driver at Barcelona today.

Franck has made a very positive contribution since joining the team officially at the beginning of the year and this morning he was presented with a shirt signed by members of the race and test teams to show their appreciation.

President John Howett said: “Working with Franck this year has been a very positive experience and he has given a lot to the team. His work at tests has been outstanding and he has helped us to continuously improve the performance of our car. He is an enthusiastic character who is also very dedicated to his work. We have enjoyed having him as part of the team and we will miss him.”

Senior General Manager Chassis Pascal Vasselon said: “Franck has put in a lot of hard work this year as third driver and we have benefited from his experience and enthusiasm. His feedback has always been excellent and that is very important from a third driver. Franck had a very good relationship with the team and I would like to thank him for his efforts and wish him all the best in the future.”

Test team manager Gerd Pfeiffer said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Franck this year and he has made an important contribution to our testing programme in 2007. He is a fast and intelligent driver who has been a real pleasure to work with. I know everyone in the test team wishes him good luck in whatever he chooses to do next.”