Panasonic Toyota Racing steps up a gear in Vallelunga
With only three weeks remaining before the season's curtain-raiser
at the Bahrain International Circuit, Panasonic Toyota Racing
enters the final stretch of pre-season testing at the Vallelunga
circuit in Italy tomorrow with the first run of its race-specification
TF106.
 LOVE
IS IN THE AERO
The new-look TF106 will show off a totally new aerodynamic
package, incorporating the latest developments from Toyota
Motorsport's 50%-scale Cologne-based windtunnel, where preparatory
work for the coming season has been carried out at a relentless
pace for the last six months.
"It was always our intention to maximise development
time in the windtunnel," explains Technical Director
Chassis Mike Gascoyne. "In this way, we have been able
to run the mechanical base of the TF106 since the end of November
to gather extremely valuable data from the car and the Bridgestone
tyres as we concurrently work on honing the most advanced
aero package possible for the first three intercontinental
races. Reliability has always been a key factor of the first
races, but whilst we aim to be 100% reliable, we also want
to be 100% competitive. Our approach to the racing season
may not enable us to be winter testing champions, but we hope
that it will help us to challenge for podiums throughout the
season and ultimately Toyota's maiden victory."
WING THEN YOU'RE SINGING
No part has gone untouched in the pursuit of the most competitive
Toyota to date with notable modifications and improvements
to all areas of aerodynamic performance.
"We have looked at every single component to produce
what I believe is our most competitive aero package to date,"
adds Gascoyne. "We have a new front wing and rear wing,
more sculpted side pods, modified diffuser, restyled engine
cover and floor. Everything has been studied, improved, tested
and improved again. We have two more tests, one this week
in Vallelunga and one next week in Barcelona, during which
time we will work to harmonise the TF106 package continuing
the encouraging work we have conducted with Bridgestone over
the winter."
HAPPY VALLE-NTINE'S DAY
As the TF106 will benefit from the timely addition of the
most advanced aerodynamic components, the product of thorough
diligence in the windtunnel, the car will also reap advantages
from a meticulous long-lead approach to RVX-06 engine development.
And what better day to start this new chassis-engine relationship
than on 14 February!
"We have been testing since the start of the year with
an RVX-06 engine in race specification, but we are certainly
not resting on our laurels. We are always trying to push back
the limits, for example, working on the varying levels of
RPM that we can have at our disposal during the race weekend.
We are cautiously confident in the reliability of the engine,
having confirmed the two race-weekend mileage demands in recent
tests. This week's test in Vallelunga will also be important
for us to verify the cooling package of the engine with such
a substantial aero step, particularly with the two hottest
races of the year coming up in Bahrain and Malaysia. Looking
further down the line, we already have some evolutions running
on the dyno. It is likely that we will follow a similar route
to last year, whereby we introduce more regular steps whenever
possible, rather than waiting to release fewer, but bigger
upgrades in one go."
PITS ARE EXPRESS
Panasonic Toyota Racing's pit crew members have been additionally
busy over the winter months, keeping up to speed with all-important
pit stop training, which will once again form an integral
part of track success with the reintroduction of tyre changes
during the race. But as Team Manager Richard Cregan explains,
pit stop training has always played an important part in the
race equation.
"Even though tyre changes were not allowed during races
last season, we continued our usual training programme regardless
as we felt the need to be prepared for any eventuality during
the race, including emergency tyre changes. With this year's
reintroduction of tyre changes during the race, we find ourselves
in a strong position because our in-house processes have never
stopped. Using the Toyota Production System methods, we are
always trying to find improvements in our pit stops, something
that we are confident will help us during the season. Tyre
changes will add to the spectacle of F1 races once again and
it will also make race strategy preparation and execution
more interesting. We will certainly see who has done their
homework - I know we have done ours to the best of our ability
and I am sure we are capable of getting top marks."
MORE, MORE, MORE
A combined total of 3,578 laps have been completed by two
TF106s from the first test on 29 November 2005 up to and including
the Jerez test on 9 February. That equates to 15,749km, or
around 51 Bahrain Grands Prix!
|
