23/06/2002

European Grand Prix - Race

The European Grand Prix today saw Allan McNish claim 14th place for Panasonic Toyota Racing at the Nurburgring. Mika Salo suffered handling problems for most of the race and retired nine laps from the end with suspected gearbox trouble.

Allan McNish - Car No. 25

Position:	14th 59/60 laps completed
Chassis:	TF102/08

"I had some small traction problems at the beginning but things soon got better and the car was running quite well. There was a problem with the front left tyre on my first stop losing me about 6 seconds. My shoulder was extremely painful due to a new seat in the car. The pain was so intense after my second stop it is a miracle I finished the race at all. Only tomorrow will I know whether I can test next week but I tell you one thing I am not going to miss my home Grand Prix in Silverstone!"

Mika Salo - Car No. 24

Position:	DNF 54/60 laps completed
Chassis:	TF102/07

"We agreed to take a chance on a one-stop strategy but during the race we realised the tyres we chose were suffering from the heavy fuel load. This caused handling problems which is why I went off a couple of times and lost positions. I had to come in earlier than scheduled for my stop for this reason and then had to stop again later to change tyres again. I think my retirement was a gearbox-related problem but we have to do further checks before we can be sure."

Ove Andersson - President
"I have mixed feelings at the moment. I am pleased that Allan made it home after our recent failures to finish. Having said that I thought we would have been stronger in the race following a good qualifying session yesterday. We have to look now to next week’s test to find a solution to the problems we encountered today."

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

Review
Both drivers worked on different programmes in Friday’s free practice sessions - Mika was 9th Allan 18th. Mika and Allan put their TF102’s in 6th and 12th positions respectively on Saturday morning. Qualifying saw Mika achieve his fifth top ten result of the season with Allan three places behind in 13th.

Preview
The team heads back to Circuit Paul Ricard in France next week for a three-day test from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 June.