Paul Ricard Test: Day 1
Location: Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France
Drivers: Jarno Trulli, Ricardo Zonta
Track Length: 3.254km
With four races now into the season, Panasonic Toyota Racing
continues on its quest of gaining podium points by making
a stop at the Circuit Paul Ricard to prepare for the Grand
Prix at Nürburgring. The team started a three-day test
programme with Jarno Trulli, focusing on collecting data from
the new B-car package and with Ricardo Zonta running through
a full list of tyre tests. Both drivers return for tomorrow's
testing.
SPRING CLEANING
Spring has arrived and with it, the usual pollen season. Ricardo
Zonta, having to deal with dirty track conditions, put in
a good day of testing.
Ricardo Zonta - Chassis TF106/01
Best Lap Time: 0m58.262s
Total laps: 91
Total Distance: 296.114km
"This is the first time that we have used this circuit
layout, so we had to work on our set-up to adjust to this.
In the morning, the track was very dirty, with pollen and
dust from the trees, therefore, we also spent a lot of time
cleaning the track. Nevertheless, we did a lot of different
tyre tests and the day turned out to be productive, with my
car performing well. Now we have tomorrow and Friday to focus
on some long runs."
GETTING THE HANG OF THINGS
After competing in his 153rd Grand Prix at Imola, Jarno Trulli
joined the test program in Le Castellet at the wheel of the
new B-car package.
Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF106/07B
Best Lap Time: 0m58.630s
Total laps: 63
Total Distance: 205km
"We had a difficult morning with the track conditions
and then we had some delays with my car. The day was very
promising, especially with the new car and in general, the
testing we got through was good. Tomorrow I hope to put in
even more laps to gain a feeling for the new package and to
be able to make a better judgement."
B-CAR DEBUT
Panasonic Toyota Racing had a challenging, yet profitable
day, as Dieter Gass, Chief Race and Test Team Engineer explains:
"This is the first day with the B-car and although we
had some small issues which caused delays, these were not
directly related to the new car. Overall it is good to have
the car testing on the track. The team back in Cologne pushed
hard to prepare everything in time. This new package is a
consequent realization of the change we had with the front
suspension. With this being the major new item, this allows
up to fully exploit the aerodynamic and mechanical side of
the front suspension. Yet it is still too early to say anything
about the performance, because we did not do enough running
with it today. On the other hand, with Ricardo's car we concentrated
on tyre testing and found some interesting new solutions."
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