Text - Panasonic Toyota Racing: Barcelona Test 08-11 July 2003 - Day 1

Boosted by a solid two-car finish and a rewarding world championship point at the French Grand Prix last weekend, Panasonic Toyota Racing headed to Spain today, where Cristiano da Matta opened a four-day test session at the Circuit de Catalunya. The team will be working on all fronts this week as test driver Ricardo Zonta started a parallel aerodynamic test near the team's headquarters in Cologne, Germany.

Cristiano da Matta - Car No. 21
Chassis: TF103/03
Best lap time: 1m19.48, 79 laps completed
Working on: Car set-up and balance
"We have a large programme this week in preparations for the British Grand Prix and beyond, as this is the last opportunity for the F1 teams to test before the summer break. Today, after the usual baseline runs in the morning, we concentrated on car balance analysis and in-depth set-up work. Everything ran smoothly and I could manage several long runs without any problem. This gives us good material to work from during this session and I am very pleased with this first day."

Weather: Hot and sunny all day. Air temperature: 25-32°C.
Track: Dry at all times. Track temperature: 27-41°C.

Preview:
Tomorrow, Cristiano will complete his second day and final day for this week before handing over the TF103 car to teammate Olivier Panis for the last two days of the session.

Upcoming Events
11-13 July 2003 - Goodwood Festival of Speed
Next Race:
18-20 July 2003 - British Grand Prix, Silverstone
Next Test:
02-04 September, Autodromo di Monza, Italy