Jerez Test: Day 3 Round-Up
Location: Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Spain
Track Length: 4.428kms
Dates: 5-6-7 July 2006
Drivers: Ralf Schumacher (6-7), Jarno Trulli (6-7), Ricardo
Zonta (5), Olivier Panis (5)
Summary:
Jarno Trulli: Best lap: 1m18.179s, total laps: 187
Ricardo Zonta: Best lap: 1m18.743s, total laps: 99
Ralf Schumacher: Best lap: 1m18.813s, total laps: 151
Olivier Panis: Best lap: 1m19.059s, total laps: 85
Today's testing finished off Panasonic Toyota Racing's three
day test programme in Jerez. While battling high air and track
temperatures, the team was able to prepare for the French
Grand Prix taking place next weekend. The first day of testing
saw Ricardo Zonta and Olivier Panis covering general test
items, while Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli took over their
respective TF106B cars, preparing for the Grand Prix and driving
them for the first time in Jerez. Since winter testing, the
last time the team visited the Circuito Permanente De Jerez
in February, the TF106 has undergone continuous development
and the team hopes this will help them vie for points at Magny-Cours.
Ralf Schumacher - Chassis TF106/10
Best lap time: 1m18.921s
Total laps: 86
Total distance: 380.808kms
"It's been an extremely two hot days of testing for
me and the guys in the garage. It's not so much a problem
when I am driving because the wind cools you down –
but it's hard when you're in the garage as the heat is unbearable,
so the guys did an outstanding job in these conditions. We
don't find this kind of heat everywhere we go, but it's good
to test in extreme conditions because they give us a chance
to learn things particularly on cooling, tyre wear and degradation.
Besides this, we mainly concentrated here on tyre testing
for next week's French Grand Prix."
Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF106/06
Best lap time: 1m19.242s
Total laps: 88
Total distance: 389.664kms
"It was a long hot day in the car today. I tried to
work on long runs in the morning to test the tyres for Magny-Cours,
but my engine needed to be changed out and therefore I had
to do them in the afternoon. Other than that, I did some general
set-up work. I am really starting to get a clear understanding
of the car now. Everything is slowly getting better–
the tyres, the chassis, the set-up. Overall, the team is still
working hard to work on the reliability of the car but I am
sure that we will be able to end the season on a high note.
It just takes patience."
Gerd Pfeiffer, Test Team Manager
"Today did not run as smoothly as yesterday because we
had to change out engines on both cars. We were running pretty
hard and working on specific test items, so these changes
were expected, yet we lost some time during the day. Nevertheless,
we were able to complete the preparations for Magny-Cours
and made our tyre choice based on the data from today and
yesterday. In two weeks time we test here again in Jerez and
we will only be concentrating on tyres for the coming races,
as this will be the last test before the summer break."
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