19 Jun,2007 (Tue)

As always, thank you for your support over the weekend. Here is my report from the U.S. GP, the second race of the North American Round in as many weeks, held at the holy land of American auto sports, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

High expectations for Indianapolis based on our good performance last year

At the Canadian GP last week, we had trouble with the uprights on Jarno's (Trulli) car, preventing us from finding a satisfactory setup prior to qualifying, and continuing on to negatively impact our race pace. While a one-stop strategy was implemented by one of the teams that made it to the podium, we hadn't been able to test long runs on both types of tires during Friday practice, making it difficult for us to determine how stable of a performance we could expect from the super-soft tires during race conditions. This was one factor that kept us from gambling on a one-stop race. A series of unfortunate events made for disappointing results at the Canadian GP, but last year at the Indianapolis circuit, Jarno rode a one-stop strategy to capture P4. Ralf (Schumacher) was running P5 in last year's race until his car experienced bearing troubles during the third stint. We had great expectations for more great performances from our drivers coming into this year's U.S. GP.

The best result was having both cars completing Friday's programs were the greatest yield

For the first time in a long time, we had a trouble-free Friday practice, and we were able to complete the entire first day's program exactly as planned. Usually, we would expect nothing less, but at the Monaco GP, for example, the water pipes in the second floor of our garage broke, flooding the first floor, and preventing us from being able to use our telemetry during the free practice session. At the Canadian GP, trouble with breaking uprights forced us to go into qualifying without a fully established car setup. In that sense, being able to finally complete a full program on Friday meant that we could go into Saturday morning practice to concentrate on car settings for qualifying based on a full set of long run data.

We brought two sets of uprights with us to the U.S. GP: one set of the same specification that gave us trouble last week in Canada, and another set designed to a stronger specification. Indianapolis didn't have the same crossties behind the curbs that were in Montreal, but we checked the load on the uprights when we first started lapping at the Motor Speedway. After confirming that there was no problem here, we decided to use the same upright spec that we used in Canada.

While our lap times might have seemed fairly far down on the time chart, this was mainly due to the fact that we put on new tires rather early, so we weren't especially concerned about our pace. Of course, both drivers suffered from lack of grip during the first day, but we were able to make grip improvements on Saturday. Overall, I would have to say it was a favorable first day of the grand prix weekend.

Disappointment that only one car made the third period, but expectations for Ralf's resurgence

Saturday shaped up to be another trouble-free morning of practice, and I found it encouraging that we were able to go into qualifying with confidence. I think we can also be proud of the fact that Jarno was able to advance to the third qualifying period, even though all of the cars were competing fiercely, separated by razor-thin time gaps.

But we had such high expectations for both cars to qualify in the top 10 that we all felt some disappointment that Ralf wasn't able to continue on to the final qualifying period. I really can't point to any significant mistakes or traffic issues. I just think that the qualifying times were all so close that even minor mistakes resulted in large position differences. Even though he didn't make it past Q2, Ralf wasn't driving badly at all-even outpacing Jarno during Saturday's morning practice session. We thought that Ralf might qualify as the better of our two drivers on Saturday, and we still feel confident that Ralf has found his way back to performing at the level he wants. Although Ralf qualified P12, we had high expectations that he would battle his way through the field during Sunday's race.

Jarno captures P6; good ammunition going into the second half of the European Round

Although the U.S. GP turned out to be a hard-fought affair, with 17 cars completing the race, despite the heat, Jarno made a very good accounting of himself. About 12 laps after the start, Jarno reported that tire graining was giving him trouble with grip. We knew the other teams were suffering the same problems, so our engineer encouraged Jarno, saying "It's all right, stay strong." Jarno immediately settled down, and got back to driving his race. Our strategy to extend Jarno's first stint before pitting for the first of two pit stops paid off, as Jarno was able to keep ahead of the cars he was fighting for position. The last stint of the race was a tough "tail-to-nose" fight, but Jarno out-dueled the cars behind. In this race we had some luck on our side, as a few cars ahead of us in position experienced trouble during the race, but having captured no points at the Spanish GP and the Monaco GP, I think this is a good result that has provided some new motivation for the team.

Meanwhile, Ralf's brakes locked in the first corner immediately after the race start, bringing him into contact with another car. With a damaged front left suspension, Ralf was done for the day. Ralf had made it to Q2 for the first time in four races, barely missing out on making Q3. But even so, we were encouraged to see Ralf back at his former speed, which made the early retirement all the more disappointing. I do think, though, that Ralf's performance here will bring some good momentum into the next GP.

We still haven't closed the gap with the top teams, but we'll take four points away from the North American Round as a worthwhile souvenir, working harder than ever on further development as we go into the rest of the European Round. We at Panasonic Toyota Racing ask for your continued valued support.

Noritoshi Arai, watching Panasonic Toyota Racing capture their best finish of the season so far in Indianapolis. After testing at Silverstone, the team will head to the French GP, aiming for a double-points finish.