Thank you once again for your support over the weekend. Here is my report from the United States Grand Prix, held at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Pole position last year at Indianapolis; this year's goal is both cars in the points

With the Canadian Grand Prix and the U.S. Grand Prix taking place in quick succession, we moved from immediately from Canada to the U.S., and removed some downforce from the cars to better match the characteristics of the Indianapolis circuit. The engine is basically the same spec we have been using for some time. Ralf Schumacher's engine was on its first race in Canada, but with his early retirement at that race, we were able to put in a fresh engine for the U.S. Grand Prix. Jarno Trulli is also on a fresh engine, but his change was according to our regularly scheduled rotation.

The new front wing, introduced at the prior race in Canada. The small winglets added to each side for the race in Canada were removed for better performance on the long straights in Indianapolis.

The circuit at Indianapolis is a combination of an infield section and a portion of the oval course, featuring a long straightaway. To save time over the long straights, you would normally want to reduce downforce on your car, but the exact opposite is true for saving time through the infield section. It's a very difficult decision as to how best balance top speed and downforce.

Last year we won the pole position here. Of course, we want to win pole again this year, and we also want to finish with both cars in the points-something we weren't able to do in Canada.

Confirming everything we needed to on the first day

With our lap times down towards the bottom of the [results] list, I'm sure our fans were left with a somewhat deflated impression. But in truth, there weren't any problems. Since we were able to confirm everything we needed to going into Saturday, as a team we had no worries whatever.

Before P1 (first free practice session) we had decided to only run two laps for our installation program (checking basic car functions), and everything went according to schedule. With both drivers using fresh engines, we wanted to save the heavy driving as much as possible for later in the weekend.

We increased the number of laps somewhat during the afternoon session, working our program to carefully confirm the behavior of the tires. However, as soon as Ralf left on his out lap, he reported vibrations in the car. We rebalanced the tires and made some other adjustments, which took some time, so there was a certain amount of hustling around the garage. After we completed the rebalancing work, we didn't experience any more problems on that particular front.

Meanwhile, we experienced poor signal strength from Jarno's telemetry system-the equipment that sends data from the car to the pits. It took us about 30 minutes during the session to iron out the problem. But after that, Jarno was able to complete his program as planned. We made some adjustments to balance between top speed and downforce, we checked the car's aerodynamics, and we made some suspension adjustments. Both Jarno and Ralf complained of poor grip and tire graining (frayed abrasions) in the front tires, as well as some other issues, but we all had a feeling that things would progress smoothly on Saturday.

Trouble prevents a two-car appearance in final qualifying; more unresolved issues

We were fully confident that both cars would make it through to the final qualifying session, so we were very disappointed in the results. During Q1 (first qualifying period), part of the mechanism that supports the rear height of Jarno's car broke in Turn 12. The problem occurred on the lap before our planned measurement lap. The telemetry told us exactly where the break was, so we made the decision to immediately replace the part, making the necessary preparations as the car was coming in. During the Q1 session, teams have only 15 minutes to get in a measurement lap. Without enough time to replace the broken part, we were forced to give up on qualifying for Jarno.

	Starting from the pits, Jarno's one-stop strategy worked brilliantly, helping him finish 4th. Another factor for Jarno's strong performance was his ability to put in comparatively fast lap times against his rivals who selected two-stop strategies.

This circuit puts a heavy load on a car's suspension, but I don't believe that was the reason that the part in question broke. I think that the most likely explanation is that there was an inherent flaw in the attached part. We replaced the broken part on Jarno's car, and made our preparations for the race.

During the morning practice session, Ralf reported the same type of vibrations that had been causing trouble the day before, but he drove a strong qualifying for us, and made it through to Q3 as planned. Ralf told us that his car's balance had improved, and Ralf's qualifying results put us in a position to fight for the top during the race.

We experienced two mechanical issues in two successive races in Canada and America. If we were dealing with a breakage in the same part in both cases, then we could pinpoint the trouble, and make concentrated efforts to fix the problem. However, each incident involved different parts. There is a chance that an as-yet undetected underlying problem is at fault. It could be that our troubleshooting is too perfunctory, and that there is something we have been overlooking. We will be making renewed efforts to ensure that we check everything as thoroughly as possible.

Jarno wins points for a second consecutive race. Ralf's bad luck makes for disappointment.

Jarno was scheduled to start the race from P19 on the grid, but after a team meeting, we decided to replace not only the broken part, but several other parts as well. Because of these changes, the rules stipulated that Jarno had to start from pit lane. We basically took the measures that we considered to be prudent. Given this development, we decided to go with a one-stop race strategy for Jarno. Ultimately it was the best decision we could have made.

I think today was a day full of "if only.," and "but for." for every team. Ralf didn't get the start he hoped, but a better start would have placed him right in the middle of the confusion in the first corner. Starting from the pits, Jarno was able to take in the situation and carefully maneuver through without any problems. In the end, I thought that our start worked out well for us.

Ralf's start from the grid turned out to be a blessing in disguise, allowing him to avoid the accident in the first corner. Ralf drove a steady race that would have certainly won points for Panasonic Toyota Racing, but his car suffered race-ending mechanical troubles.

When starting from the pits, a driver has to wait until all of the cars have passed the end of the pit lane before going out. This resulted in a 20-second gap between Jarno and the top cars. But with an accident occurring right after the start, the safety car came out and allowed Jarno to reduce the gap to about 10 seconds. That was a big turning point for Jarno's race.

In fact, I thought at one point during the last stage of the race we might have a chance of getting by Fisichella and finishing 3rd. I kept one eye on lap time trends, hoping for just a bit more, but we ran out of time. I have to say that Jarno fought through very tough conditions to make a splendid result.

On the other hand, I feel really badly for Ralf. Despite the vibration problems on Friday, we expected Ralf to put in a strong race, and we expected both cars to finish in the points. Unfortunately, Ralf's left front wheel bearing experienced a failure.

Our biggest challenge is reliability. If we had better reliability, Jarno would have been able to start further up on the grid, and Ralf would easily have finished 5th in the race. You can be sure that we will be thoroughly examining the most minute details of the cars, working to move Panasonic Toyota Racing up to the top during the last half of the 2006 F1 World Championship. I hope you continue to throw your collective support behind our efforts.