14/09/2002

Italian Grand Prix - Qualifying

Panasonic Toyota Racing's recent run of fine form continued in Monza today with the team's ninth top ten qualifying result of the season. Mika Salo will start from 10th on the grid for tomorrow's Italian Grand Prix whilst team-mate Allan McNish will start from 13th.

Mika Salo - Car No. 24

Position:	10th 1m22.318s 12/12 laps completed
Chassis:	TF102/07

"I was expecting a bit of a higher qualifying position. With a full tank of fuel the car has been really quick and consistent all weekend and it seems that when we drop the fuel level it is not as good. I am a little disappointed but at the end of the day 10th at Monza is a very good place to start. I am confident for the race tomorrow. We should have a good race car."

Allan McNish - Car No. 25

Position:	13th 1m22.521s 10/12 laps completed
Chassis:	TF102/08

"A pretty good qualifying session. Overall the car was quite consistent and we didn't make that many changes from this morning's sessions just some fine tuning. I think we could have squeezed a bit more out of the car so I am a bit frustrated. We found we could go a bit quicker on the second flying lap than we could on the first so we adopted a four-lap philosophy. Unfortunately it didn't quite work for me on the last flying lap but I am looking forward to a good race tomorrow."

Keizo Takahashi - Technical Co-Ordinator
"We have not yet found the perfect set-up on the TF102s but both drivers performed very well in qualifying. Tomorrow for the first time we will use our new spec engine in the race and hope to use the high power and reliability to good effect. Clearly our aim is to finish the race but also to make up places when and where we can."

Weather:	Dry with sunny spells
Temperatures:	Air - Min 20°C Max 22°C Track - Min 29°C Max 32°C Average humidity - 47%
T-car:	TF102/06 set up for Mika Salo

Review
Friday was a mixed affair for the team with Mika Salo in 6th position in a best time of 1m23.925s over 38 laps. Allan McNish's running was limited by a gearbox problem. He finished in 18th in 1m25.546s. Saturday morning saw McNish up in 9th spot (1m22.967s) after two trouble-free sessions. Salo completed 28 laps and was 14th (1m23.442s).