Glock and Kobayashi kick-off Barcelona test for Toyota

Following last week’s weather-affected test at the Circuit de Catalunya, the F1 teams gathered again in Barcelona hoping for better conditions this week. Unfortunately it was not to be and overnight rain again guaranteed a damp track this morning.

For Panasonic Toyota Racing, Timo Glock and third driver Kamui Kobayashi were at the wheel. Timo had a full day’s running, putting in 70 laps of work on mechanical set-up. Kamui had his running restricted in the unsettled conditions to preserve mileage and tyres. Toyota will continue testing at the Circuit de Catalunya tomorrow with Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock scheduled to drive.

Timo Glock – Chassis TF108-04
Best lap time: 1m 23.270s
Position: 13th
Total laps: 70
Total distance: 325.9km
“Again, these were not the ideal conditions for testing because of the damp start to the action. We did some running in the morning but not much because the track was changing so much. It became more stable during the second half of the afternoon and that went better for me. We worked on finding a set-up direction to suit my driving style better. We found an improved car balance and I was much happier with it today. We couldn’t try everything because we were a bit short of time in the afternoon but it was a good day.”

Kamui Kobayashi – Chassis TF108-02
Best lap time: 1m 23.880s
Position: 16th
Total laps: 29
Total distance: 135.0km
“It was another quiet morning for me. We did not want to waste mileage and tyres on a damp track so I did only an installation lap. Once the track dried out after lunch we were able to do more work. We did some set-up and weight distribution work and we made some progress despite the limited running time. The car felt more balanced and we are heading in the right direction.”

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis: “We really regret not testing in Spa over these past two weeks because the weather in Belgium has been much better than it’s been here in Spain. Today again started in conditions that are very difficult for testing because the track was constantly changing through the morning and it’s very difficult to do comparisons. So we waited until the beginning of the afternoon to start work on mechanical set-up, which we tried to refine on both cars in preparation for aerodynamics testing tomorrow. The forecast is better for tomorrow so we are hopeful of a dry day.”