Barcelona Test: Round-Up
Location: Circuito de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Drivers: Ralf Schumacher; Jarno Trulli
Track Length: 4.627kms
Panasonic Toyota Racing today completed the last day of this
week's test programme at Barcelona. Both Ralf Schumacher and
Jarno Trulli had productive days, putting in a lot of laps
and collecting useful data. The team will draw on these results
to make conclusive decisions about car specifications for
the upcoming race. Next week, the team is scheduled to test
in Valencia Wednesday and Thursday (March 1-2) in its final
test outing before the 2006 season.
Drivers:
Jarno Trulli Best lap: 1m16.057s, total laps: 298
Ralf Schumacher Best lap: 1m15.973s, total laps: 191
STEPPING STONE
Jarno Trulli concluded this week's testing, putting in almost
300 laps over three days.
Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF106/04
Best lap time: 1m16.024s
Total laps: 100
Total distance: 463kms
"This week we mainly worked on the tyre choice for Bahrain.
We worked on long and short runs, but the temperature has
been too cold for us. I am sure that a warmer temperature
will ensure that we are more competitive. The new aerodynamic
package has been a good step forward. All in all we have done
a lot work, but of course we will find out in Bahrain how
we stand up against the other teams."
FINAL TUNING
Ralf Schumacher had to end his day early to have work done
on his cooling system, which was a minor problem that did
not overshadow his week of testing.
Ralf Schumacher - Chassis TF106/03
Best lap time: 1m16.288s
Total laps: 42
Total distance: 194kms
"These three days of testing have turned out to be constructive;
especially in regards to the weather, because we expected
high chances of rain. I am glad that the weather held out
because I was able to finally put in some meaningful runs.
Although I could only put in 41 laps today, my impressions
have all been positive and particularly with the potential
of the car and the team as a whole. We have one more test
next week to make any final conclusions and then it is off
to the races."
LOOKING AHEAD
Pascal Vasselon, General Manager Car Design and Development,
has observed the winter testing programme and is optimistic
going into the new season.
"We have been fortunate here with the weather conditions,
as we were actually expecting rain, so in fact it gave us
the opportunity to finalize some decisions for the first race,
including the tyre choice. We have a very good idea of what
we will run in Bahrain. Among these three days we have had
some interesting results and could therefore make straightforward
decisions to even see what we would run at the race in Barcelona
later in the season. In the end, I can only say that year
after year it is difficult to draw conclusions from pre-season
testing, but we are definitely pleased that we have achieved
so much throughout the whole winter."
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