Toyota finish Jerez test
Panasonic Toyota Racing today completed the last day of this week's test programme at Jerez. Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were again at the wheel putting in work on set-up, suspension and on the team's new Bridgestone tyres. Both had productive days, putting in a lot of laps and collecting useful data to round off the week's work.
Dates: January 17-19
Location: Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Spain
Track length: 4.423km
Drivers:
Jarno Trulli (Best lap 1m18.657s, total laps 186)
Ralf Schumacher (Best lap 1m19.373s, total laps 123)
While this ends this week of testing, Toyota is now scheduled to test at Barcelona next week as the team continues its preparations for the start of the 2006 season.
FUEL OF PROMISE Ralf Schumacher today carried out suspension and tyre tests, putting in 60 laps and stopping briefly only for a fuel system problem.
Ralf Schumacher – Chassis TF106/01
Best lap time: 1m19.373s
Total laps: 60
Total distance: 265.4km
"We have spent the week mainly doing set-up and working on different suspension settings. Today we've put in some work on the set-up to find a bit of direction for the new tyres and this afternoon I did a tyre test. Of course it takes a while to adapt to a new tyre manufacturer and we're still in the early stages. It's a complicated process with constant development going on but we are feeling pretty confident that we can make good progress ahead of the new season. We have a lot of tests still to do, so we'll be working hard over the rest of the winter."
TYRING COLLECTION Jarno Trulli put in a lot of miles on his last day at Jerez as he continued to test tyres and suspension.
Jarno Trulli – Chassis TF106/02
Best lap time: 1m20.333s
Total laps: 75
Total distance: 331.7km
"This has been another interesting week of putting mileage on the new TF106. We have been able to do some work on set-up, suspension settings and tyres. This morning we carried out another tyre construction test and we gained some useful data. We had a positive afternoon's work too, working on different front and rear suspension. So overall it's been a good day and we look forward to keeping up our preparations at Barcelona next week."
BRIDGING THE GAP Panasonic Toyota Racing today completed its three-day test at Jerez, having gained some useful data on the team's new Bridgestone tyres.
Pascal Vasselon, General Manager Car Design and Development
"This was our second straight test at Jerez, so our focus here this week was to finalise our evaluation of the Bridgestone tyres at this type of track. We have also looked at some very interesting chassis options. There have been a few disruptions with technical problems but testing is all about evaluating the limit of certain parts. We have always run our own work and development in parallel with the tyre development. We may have a new tyre partner but while that makes things slightly more challenging it is still usual business for us. Now we will head to Barcelona and Valencia where we will face very different but complementary conditions for our preparations for the 2006 season."
