27/09/2002

United States Grand Prix - Free Practice

A solid day's work for Panasonic Toyota Racing on the team's first visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today. Both drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish concentrated on learning the circuit and completed the usual Friday programme - car set-up work and Michelin tyre comparisons - in preparation for this weekend's United States Grand Prix.

Mika Salo - Car No. 24

Position:	12th 1m15.421s 38 laps completed
Chassis:	TF102/07

"Everything seems to be okay with the car. We did all the basic Friday work and had no major problems. We have some new aerodynamic parts which worked quite well. We were working mainly on preparation for Sunday to make a consistent and comfortable car for the race."

Allan McNish - Car No. 25

Position:	14th 1m15.589s 46 laps completed
Chassis:	TF102/08

"A difficult first session when we had a driveshaft problem on the installation lap. The guys did an excellent job to change the rear of the car to enable us to get back out quickly. After that we worked on finding a consistency in the car and did a pretty good job towards the end of the session. We did our tyre comparison and are happy with what we have this weekend. We still have to work on overall grip especially at the rear and that is what we are going to look at tonight."

Ange Pasquali - Team Manager
"It was an interesting session today because it is our first time at this track. Both Mika and Allan worked on car set-up and balance and this will continue in tomorrow's practice sessions. Unfortunately there was a driveshaft problem on Allan's car at the start of the first session which delayed us a bit but we gathered good track data and overall it has not been a bad start to the weekend."

Weather:	Overnight rain cleared cloudy with some warm sunshine.
Temperatures:	Air - Min 20°C Max 25°C Track - Min 20°C Max 30°C Average humidity - 67%
T-car:	TF102/06 set up for Allan McNish.