Positive progress for Toyota

Panasonic Toyota Racing continued its positive start to pre-season testing with another productive day at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. After his strong showing yesterday, Jarno Trulli was joined by Ralf Schumacher, who returned to the wheel of the TF107 for the first time since the car’s initial shakedown runs.

As with yesterday, the session started quietly as the team bided their time before setting any serious laps due to a damp track and cold temperatures. When track conditions improved and grooved tyres could be used, both Jarno and Ralf began their work on perfecting the set-up of the new car, trying different combinations as they look to get the best out of the TF107. A lot of useful information was recorded and the drivers once again gave positive feedback on the performance of their new car before more wet weather brought a premature end to the day.

Ralf Schumacher - Chassis TF107/701
Best Lap Time: 1min 13.839s
Total laps: 31
Total distance: 124km
“We had damp conditions in the morning so we had to wait a while before we could go out. After that is was a good day and we made some good progress. We had to stop a little early because of the rain unfortunately, there was no point continuing in those conditions. The car felt good again, just as it did on the first day I drove it at Paul Ricard for the shakedown. I must say it seems to be a step forward but we have to wait a little longer to see what the others are up to.”

Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF107/702
Best Lap Time: 1min 13.297s
Total laps: 46
Total distance: 184km
“Today went pretty well and we managed to get a lot of work done but we had to stop a little bit early because of the rain. There was no point going out on a wet track as that would have been a waste of tyres. I had a good feeling again with the car and I am optimistic about it, but it is still too early to really understand how much potential it has. It has been a good day and I am happy we have made some more progress.”

“Today was a successful day for us. We were able to run plenty of laps with both cars and that gave us a lot of information about how the car performs using different set-ups. We were also able to check the systems on the new car, which I am pleased to say is running smoothly. It was difficult to compare set-ups in the morning as the track conditions were changing constantly but before the late afternoon rain we were able to do some important work. Obviously with a new car there is a lot to do before we can find the optimum set-up but we have again made good progress. Now we look forward to continuing this good work tomorrow.”