FRENCH FINALE

Panasonic Toyota Racing completed its four-day test programme at Paul Ricard in southern France today with Franck Montagny again behind the wheel of the TF107. After changeable weather on day three, the elements were kinder today with warmer temperatures and no wind allowing the team to conduct some good preparation for the North American races in June. Franck worked on various set-up options as well as evaluating the Bridgestone tyres and completed another day of trouble-free running. Today was another productive session for Franck, who gathered a considerable amount of information which will help the team prepare for the races at Montreal and Indianapolis. The team is in action again next week for the Monaco Grand Prix, with practice beginning on Thursday.

Franck Montagny - Chassis TF107-03
Best Lap Time: 1min 29.312s
Position: 4th
Total laps: 79
Total distance: 415.145 kms

"The conditions were more favourable today and I was able to make better progress. We did some suspension and general set-up work and I also carried out more tyre evaluation. Without the wind that we had yesterday it was easier to make some more meaningful judgements in preparation for the North American races. We are learning all the time. "

Gerd Pfeiffer - Test Team Manager

"It has been a good comprehensive test and we have got through everything we wanted to do. Logistically a test with different circuit layouts is no more difficult to organise as long as you know what you want to achieve and you plan properly. It does not involve additional team personnel but what you do notice is that four days is harder work than the regular three days. I want to thank everyone for their efforts this week. We started with Ralf doing two days concentrating on Monte Carlo preparation, while Franck finished the test on the faster circuit layout with the emphasis on Canada and the USA. Both drivers had one day affected by winds but we collected a lot of data for analysis back in Cologne."