PRE-SEASONS IN THE SUN

Panasonic Toyota Racing was back in action at the Bahrain International Circuit today for the second day of pre-season testing in the Middle East. With predictably good weather again greeting the team this morning, Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli set out to work on long runs to cover more than a race distance, as well as tyre evaluations. Jarno again tried out the new aerodynamic package on the TF107 and in the morning he was able to collect plenty of useful data. Ralf had to wait before he could begin the session in earnest after a clutch issue early in the morning but he was soon back in action while Jarno was performing a series of long stints. Both drivers resumed the programme after lunch and put more miles on the new TF107, although minor repairs halted Ralf an hour before the session was due to end. Franck Montagny replaces Ralf tomorrow for the final day before a short weekend break and then the second three-day test in Bahrain.

Ralf Schumacher - Chassis TF107/01
Best Lap Time: 1min 34.464s
Position: 16th
Total laps: 50
Total distance: 270.5kms

“We had some issues so we still have some work to do. We did manage to go through some of our programme and worked on balance issues. This was my last day of this test and it has been quite difficult. I will come back to Bahrain next week and I am hoping we can have a better time then.“

Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF107/03
Best Lap Time: 1min 33.155s
Position: 12th
Total laps: 91
Total distance: 492.4kms

“We managed to do a lot of laps today which is definitely a positive thing after the issues we had yesterday. It was very important for us to do some good miles without any trouble as that gave us the chance to verify several things on the car. It has not been a bad day overall but I hope we can make even more progress tomorrow.“

Dieter Gass - Chief Engineer Race and Test

“We definitely had a better day today than yesterday as we were able to complete many more laps. Jarno did quite a lot of running and managed to complete our programme. We did some long runs over more than a race distance without having any trouble which was positive but we still had some issues on Ralf's car which we need to look into and fix for tomorrow. In terms of performance, we were concentrating on long runs rather than performance over one lap so the lap times do not reflect the potential of the car.“