09.07.2007

FOOTBALL'S COMING HOME!

The familiar English anthem may not have been audible on the touchlines but that did not mean that the competitive spirit was dulled in any way as a team of Panasonic Toyota Racing mechanics took on a Northamptonshire University football team.

The match was keenly contested but the Northamptonshire boys were under strict instructions not to disable any of our key personnel before things turned serious on the track. To their delight, not to mention a slight degree of surprise, our boys won the match!

It was a good meeting too, for Toyota Young Driver Programme member Kazuki Nakajima. The Williams Toyota test driver finished third in both GP2 series races for the DAMS team.

NEWS FROM OUR RIVALS

The world championship battle between McLaren and Ferrari hotted up when Kimi Raikkonen followed up his Magny Cours victory with another 10 points. Raikkonen took the lead after the second pit stop and beat double world champion Fernando Alonso to the chequered flag. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton took pole position in his first British Grand Prix, delighting the home fans, but was unable to keep pace with Raikkonen and Alonso in the race. He did finish on the podium once again, however, keeping up his amazing 100% podium record as a rookie. He now has 70 points in the championship to Alonso's 58, Raikkonen's 52 and Massa's 51.

Former BAR Honda team principal David Richards confirmed on Saturday that his ProDrive company's F1 plans will still happen even if the planned announcement of the team at Silverstone has had to be delayed. "There is no timeline scheduled for the announcement and we still have some details to finalise. You'd be surprised how late you can press the 'go' button," Richards said. It is still anticipated that the team will run customer McLaren Mercedes chassis in 2008.

RACE REPORT

Panasonic Toyota Racing enjoyed a strong performance in qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, round 9 of the Formula 1 World Championship. Unfortunately though, the race did not live up to expectations and both Toyota TF107s retired. Ralf Schumacher was out of the race after 22 laps with a wheel fixation problem at the front left. Jarno Trulli retired 17 laps from the end when the team noticed some anomalies on the telemetry in response to Trulli's comments that the car was handling strangely.

Schumacher started the race sixth on the grid, his best qualifying performance of the season, and looked set for a competitive run when Felipe Massa's fourth-placed Ferrari was removed from the grid in front of him on the formation lap and started from the back. But a poor start lost Ralf places to both Renault drivers and Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber.

Ralf said, "I moved up into seventh place when Kovalainen pitted and then I came in on the next lap. I had quite a gap to some of those behind who were doing longer first stints, so I think we were looking strong for a good result. But, all of a sudden I felt a wheel fixation problem when I came into the Complex and I had to retire immediately. The outcome is obviously disappointing but the positive thing is that we were competing with the stronger cars and qualified both cars in the top 10 again. That will be a boost for everyone working hard in Cologne and in Japan, especially ahead of what is effectively a home race for the team at the Nrburgring in a fortnight's time.

Team mate Trulli was not happy with the feeling of his race car after qualifying but he ran in the top 10 throughout his 18-lap first stint. Still, he had problems with grip and balance and the team brought him in early after his second stint to try and find the root of the problem.

"My lap times were not competitive, however, and the car's handling was very difficult," Jarno explained. "I had much higher tyre wear than Ralf, something that had been a factor all weekend. I carried on but the situation got worse. Even after the second stop there was still no grip. The team noticed some unexpected data on the telemetry and I retired 10 laps after my second pit stop. We need to investigate the problem. A race to forget for me."

Kimi Raikkonen won his second race in seven days for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, moving up to third place in the world championship in the process, one point ahead of Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa. Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton finished in second and third places.

Senior General Manager, Chassis, Pascal Vasselon commented: "We had a competitive test at Silverstone and the TF107s were similarly strong from first practice on Friday. The car is better suited to the downforce level of circuits like Magny Cours and Silverstone than Canada and Indianapolis but, for the second successive race we have not been able to demonstrate our true potential. It is always disappointing to encounter technical issues and we will investigate fully the problems with both cars. We fully intend to come back strongly at Nurburgring."

The next round of the championship is at the historic Eifel venue on July 22.