Toyota. Jerez Test Update: Day 1
Location: Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Spain
Drivers: Ralf Schumacher, Jarno Trulli
Track length: 4.423km
 Fresh
from the weekend's pre-season event at the Toyota manufacturing
facility at Valenciennes in France, Panasonic Toyota Racing's
race drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli returned to
track action today. Jarno had a productive day of work around
the Jerez circuit in Southern Spain as he continued to put
the new TF106 through its paces. Ralf was less fortunate,
missing out on most of the afternoon's running for an engine
change. Both Ralf and Jarno are scheduled to spend a total
of three days at the Spanish circuit collecting more data
for setting up the TF106 with its Bridgestone tyres.
BACK IN THE GROOVE
Jarno Trulli returned from the pre-season event to enjoy a
successful test of Bridgestone tyres.
Jarno Trulli – Chassis TF106/02
Best lap time: 1m19.037s
Total laps: 68
Total distance: 300.8km
"This has been an enjoyable day of running here at Jerez.
I spent the morning looking at different set-ups and we got
through some useful work. Then in the afternoon we switched
to a Bridgestone tyre test. We are still early in our relationship
but with every day of running we make progress and today was
no exception. The car was reliable and we completed our programme.
It will be a steep learning curve over the next few weeks
as we head towards the new season but we are in good shape."
LAZY SUNNY AFTERNOON
Ralf Schumacher missed much of his scheduled running after
lunch because of an engine problem.
Ralf Schumacher – Chassis TF106/01
Best lap time: 1m21.279s
Total laps: 24
Total distance: 106.2km
"We have a packed programme of development work planned
for the run-up to the new season as we bid to make improvements
to our package. Today we were due to work on set-up and suspension
but we ended up missing most of the day's running. First we
had to wait for the circuit to dry out this morning, then
we had an engine problem after lunch. The unit had already
been in use at previous tests and had completed a lot of mileage.
That is what testing is for and that is why we can benefit
from having had the new V8 engine out so early. We will continue
our work over the next two days."
MIXED FORTUNES
Toyota had ups and downs during today's first day of running
at Jerez but made good progress.
Gerd Pfeiffer, Test Team Manager
"Today was a productive first day of testing here at
Jerez for Jarno. He spent the morning doing set-up work before
a tyre test in the afternoon and we made some useful progress.
Ralf completed a weight distribution test in the morning but
his engine change meant that he missed out when the track
was at its best in the afternoon. Still, we should have plenty
of opportunity to make up for the lost time over the next
two days when both Jarno and Ralf are scheduled to continue
running."
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