09/06/2002

Canadian Grand Prix - Race

A double retirement for Mika Salo and Allan McNish concluded a very lacklustre Canadian Grand Prix weekend for Panasonic Toyota Racing in Montreal today.

Mika Salo - Car No. 24

Position:	DNF 41/70 laps completed
Chassis:	TF102/07

"Things were going really well and the car was feeling the best it has all weekend. I was overtaking a lot of cars but I had to stop early to change what I thought was a punctured rear tyre. In fact the front tyre was damaged by something on the track so I had to come in again. Then I got a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. It was already over by that point but brake trouble - probably caused by the puncture - ended the race for me. I am extremely disappointed."

Allan McNish - Car No. 25

Position:	DNF 45/70 laps completed
Chassis:	TF102/08

"I had contact with de la Rosa at the start which damaged the set up of the car making it difficult to drive. The paddles on my steering wheel would not work during my scheduled stop so I lost time there. My race ended on lap 45 when I span the car. It has not been a good weekend and I am hoping for better things in Germany."

Ove Andersson - President
"After a disappointing qualifying yesterday the cars were much better in race trim. Mika had a fantastic race until his puncture and it was nice to see so much overtaking. A double retirement is not what we wanted but this is racing. It was our first trip to Montreal and we have learned a lot."

Weather:	Dry and sunny some broken cloud
T-car:	TF102/06 set up for Mika Salo

Review
Mika took 6th place on the team's Canadian debut on Friday. Allan had an oil leak ending up in 20th. On Saturday both drivers were unhappy with the car's handling and were only 18th (Mika) and 20th (Allan) after a difficult qualifying.

Preview
Mika Salo and Ryan Briscoe will be present at the team's three-day test session in Jerez Spain next week. Salo will test Wednesday and Thursday with Briscoe completing the session on Friday 14 June.