NOTRE JAM
Ralf Schumacher took his yet another points finish by finishing 6th today at Montreal.
The German lost ground at the start but battled hard all afternoon in traffic
to bring home three points.
Ralf Schumacher (Car 17, Chassis TF105/03)
Race Classification 6th Gap: +1 lap (from race winner)
Qualifying Classification 10th Time: 1m 16.362s (+1.145s)
Grid: 10th
“I’m glad to be leaving here with three points under my belt. I
gave my best considering everything that happened this weekend. I didn’t
get well off the line today and we need to check the reason for that. Unfortunately
the lost places meant that I was always going to struggle in the race with the
strategy we had. But I battled hard and gained a place early on. Then it was just
about staying in the race and seeing what could happen. I was unlucky with the
safety car when Montoya pitted, but our instructions from race control were to
stay in the position I was. The good news is that Jarno was very near to getting
a podium, and it shows that we can drive good races when everything goes well.”
CANADA GONG BITES THE DUST
Jarno Trulli was denied his fourth podium of the season after suffering a brake
failure in the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix but the Italian retains
third place in the drivers’ championship.
Jarno Trulli (Car 16, Chassis TF105/02)
Race Classification Retired on lap 62
Qualifying Classification 9th Time: 1m 16.201s (+0.984s)
Grid: 9th
“That was a real pity for me and the team. We were looking quite good
and all set for the podium when I suffered a brake failure. The brakes had been
fine up to that point and there was no wear problem, it was just a failure. As
such, the final chicane was about the best place to have had it because there
was plenty of area to run off. Before that I had a brilliant start with good traction
and a good getaway. I tried to go down the inside but there was not much space
so I switched the outside. Sato pushed me wide but I kept flat over the kerbs
and overtook him. I really enjoyed that one. After that the car was very good
and we were getting the best out of our race considering our strategy and set-up.
It was a hot, tough race but I prepared well for these conditions, when I’ve
usually had my best results. The whole team did a fantastic job all weekend. It’s
disappointing to lose out on three podiums in three races, but that’s motor
racing.”
MONTREAL MAD RIDE
Panasonic Toyota Racing will leave Montreal still holding onto a share of third
place in the constructors’ championship after today’s points finish
in an incident-strewn Canadian Grand Prix.
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Tsutomu Tomita – Team Principal
“Both drivers put in fantastic efforts today, but as a team we were very
unfortunate. Jarno made a great start, he drove well all afternoon and he was
heading for the podium until he suffered a brake failure. We had lost all the
telemetry on his car shortly after half-distance so we couldn’t monitor
what was happening on the car. He reported back no problems so we’ll have
to see what happened when we get the car back. Ralf had a bad start and lost positions
so it was difficult to move forward with his strategy. He did a very good race,
and did well to make up some places in the first laps. During the safety car period
he ended up the lead car when Montoya pitted on the instructions from race control.
From a lap back all he could do was stay in 6th for three valuable points. The
good thing is that Toyota again showed its strong performance to the world and
we will continue to challenge next week at Indianapolis.”
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