Uhr
Panasonic Toyota Racing
Jerez Test Round-Up
Location: Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Spain Track length: 4.423km
Drivers:
Ryan Briscoe (Best lap 1m19.563s, total laps 143) Jarno Trulli (Best lap 1m19.670s, total laps 225) Ricardo Zonta (Best lap 1m19.805s, total laps 120) Ralf Schumacher (Best lap 1m20.454s, total laps 65)
Panasonic Toyota Racing today completed the last day of this week's test programme at Jerez. Jarno Trulli and Ricardo Zonta were at the wheel for work on set-up and on the team's new Bridgestone tyres. Both had productive days, putting in a lot of laps and collecting useful data. Ricardo will return to action tomorrow to take part in a wet tyre test for Bridgestone. Toyota is also scheduled to test here at Jerez from Tuesday to Thursday next week (December 13-15) in its final outing of 2005.
Jarno Trulli – Chassis TF106/01
Best lap time: 1m19.870s
Total laps: 77
Total distance: 340.6km
"This has been an interesting week of putting mileage on the new TF106. The V8 engine has been running well with good power and good torque, and the car as a whole has been reliable. We've done a lot of work on the tyres and we have learned a lot. At this early stage it has just been a matter of getting used to how the new rubber works. We still have to find the window where we can get the maximum out of the tyres, but we are working hard to collect data to understand how to approach our programme in January and February. This is scheduled to be my last day of testing of 2005 so I can now look forward to spending Christmas with my family and, for the first time, our son Enzo."
Ricardo Zonta – Chassis TF106/02
Best lap time: 1m19.805s
Total laps: 60
Total distance: 265.4km
"These two days of testing have been quite productive for me. Just like yesterday we spent the day working on set-up with our new Bridgestone tyres. This is still very early in the learning process so we have a long way to go in order to make the most out of the new package but we have collected a lot of useful data. Tomorrow I will have a chance to try out the Bridgestone wet tyres for the first time on an artificially dampened track. Then I will be back here next week for the last few days of testing before Christmas."
Gerd Pfeiffer, Test Team Manager
"Overall, this has been a useful and constructive test. We have had four days of running with four different drivers and it has given us a chance to put some mileage on the TF106 and to spend some time working on set-up with our new Bridgestone tyres. The cars have been reliable and we have collected a lot of useful data to help us learn what direction to take to get the best out of the rubber. We still have a lot of work to do over the winter but after Ricardo carries out tomorrow's wet tyre test we will have three more days of dry weather testing back here at Jerez next week."