Bahrain Grand Prix - Race Round-Up
Panasonic Toyota Racing capped off a disappointing weekend
at the Bahrain Grand Prix with a difficult race around the
Sakhir circuit. The new package has struggled for pace all
weekend and for that reason the team put the two drivers on
different strategies, turning the afternoon into an effective
test session. This decision was taken as part of a bid to
come away from Bahrain with as much data as possible about
how to get the most out of the cars at the coming races. Both
Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli fought hard in trying conditions
but in the end they could do no better than 14th and 16th
places at the first race of 2006. Toyota will now head to
next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix hoping to have learned
some lessons as it tries to make a step forward.
TEST PILOT
Ralf Schumacher raced on a three-stop strategy as Toyota opted
to gain as much data as possible from the day's work.
Ralf Schumacher (Car 7, Chassis TF106/05)
Race Classification: 14th
Gap: +1 lap (from race winner)
Qualifying Classification: 17th
Time: 1m 34.702s (+2.269s in Session 3)
Grid: 17th
"This weekend has been a struggle from the start. After
our problems in qualifying yesterday, we used this afternoon
as a test session to collect data to improve for the coming
races. I was on a three-stop strategy whereas Jarno was on
two stops so at least we can now compare the data from our
two cars. This way we can try to learn as much as possible
about our new package. Of course this was not the way we hoped
to start off the 2006 season but we have to take things as
they are and try to move forward from here. We don't know
where the problem is but hopefully we will soon find out.
The early races will be difficult but all we can do is push
as hard as we can to move back up the grid."
BAHRAIN DOWN ON ME
Jarno Trulli battled hard on a two-stop strategy in a bid
to help Toyota to learn as much as possible from Sakhir.
Jarno Trulli (Car 8, Chassis TF106/04)
Race Classification: 16th
Gap: +1 lap (from race winner)
Qualifying Classification: 14th
Time: 1m 33.066s (+1.851s in Session 2)
Grid: 14th
"This has obviously been a very disappointing weekend
for the whole team and today was no exception. We chose to
go with a two-stop strategy so we could make comparisons with
Ralf's data for future reference but it was a hard afternoon's
work for me. I just pushed as hard as I could for the whole
race – but the harder I pushed the slower I seemed to
go! I don't know what the solution is because there was nothing
particular going wrong, we were simply not quick enough. It's
a difficult way to start the season but we will work hard
as a team to try and do our best to make up as much ground
as possible."
DESERT SHOCKS
This weekend's disappointing performance has come as a shock
to the Panasonic Toyota Racing team.
Tsutomu Tomita – Team Principal
"The first grand prix weekend of 2006 has been a shocking
way to start the year – not only for the team but for
the fans all over the world. This afternoon our reliability
was good and Ralf and Jarno used all their skill and spirit.
But the car was unexpectedly slower than many of the other
cars and we could do nothing to step up during the race. We
put the drivers on different strategies – Ralf on three
tops and Jarno on two. At one point Jarno was good enough
to let Ralf through because he was on a different strategy
and a lighter fuel load, which meant he finished ahead. But
overall we have to treat the weekend as a test session and
use it to analyse why we didn't get the expected performance
level. It was a disappointing race and a disappointing weekend
and certainly not what we expected coming here based on our
performance in testing. The basic balance of the car was okay
but we have just been struggling for grip all weekend. It
seems we have lost the considerable performance advantage
we have built up since the middle of last year so we have
a lot of work to do to understand the reasons. This is a very
frustrating atmosphere but I'm sure that we will make every
effort to come back at the coming races."
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