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Panasonic Toyota Racing: Valencia Test Round-Up
Valencia Test Round-Up
Dates: 25-28 January 2005
Drivers: Olivier Panis (25-28), Ricardo Zonta (25-26), Jarno Trulli (27-28) Track Length: 4.000km
Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF105/03, TF105/02 Best lap time: 1m 10.598s Total laps: 159 Total distance: 636km
- Jarno, how have you found the conditions at Valencia this week?
Valencia has been a difficult place to test this week because it has been extremely cold - especially early in the mornings. Thursday was a typical day here, with the cold making life pretty hard for us. At the end of the day the wind started gusting quite hard too, making it difficult to make comparisons.
- How much work has the team managed to complete as a result?
Apart from the conditions, Thursday was a positive day because we did a lot of laps quite easily. We found some good steps on the car, so we made some good progress. We also did some tyre testing which we continued on Friday with longer runs, along with work on set-up and dampers. I swapped to Olivier's car towards the end of Friday's session because of a mechanical problem on my chassis which would have required too much time to fix at the circuit.
Olivier Panis - Chassis TF105/03, TF105/02 Best lap time: 1m 11.463s Total laps: 279 Total distance: 1096km
- This Valencia test was your first chance of trying out the new TF105. What were your first impressions?
What I felt most when I went out on the first day with the new TF105 was that the car was really well connected. Of course we need to keep going and improving, and wait and see how things work with the new aero package. But I'm quite positive about the base we have compared to what we've been used to with the TF104B.
- How much productive work have you been able to carry out here in Valencia?
I've been mainly working on tyres, but the problem was that the two first days were so windy, it made it very difficult to understand what was happening with the car. Thursday was a better day and we did a lot of laps. It was still very cold, which made it difficult to warm up the tyres, but it was not so windy so the car reacted better. On Friday I was suffering from a slight cold, but we still put in some long runs before Jarno took my car for the last couple of runs.
Ricardo Zonta - Chassis TF105/02
Best lap time: 1m 11.980s
Total laps: 154
Total distance: 616km
- Ricardo, this week was your first chance to test the TF105. How does it compare to the TF104B?
The new technical rules, and especially the aerodynamic restrictions, affect the new car mainly in the slow corners, where more downforce is beneficial. The car slides a lot more and it is more demanding to drive. That is not a reflection on the TF105, but on the rules that now govern aerodynamics.
- How were your two days in Valencia?
For my first time in the TF105, I am pleased with the two days of running. The track conditions improved on Wednesday and we were able to achieve a good number of laps, working on traction control tuning and Michelin tyres. At the end, our lap times compared to the other 2005-spec cars on track were pretty close, so we are definitely heading in the right direction.
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