Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice Round-Up
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Panasonic Toyota Racing began preparations for Sunday's Japanese
Grand Prix under grey clouds on a damp Friday of practice
at Suzuka. A wet track disrupted first practice for race drivers
Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli as they attempted to get
ready for the team's home race and they put in just one installation
lap each. The team did more work to evaluate the TF106B around
Suzuka's sweeping curves in the afternoon on a drying track.
Lap times improved as the session went on and both drivers
set their best laps in the final seconds after collecting
vital data as they prepare for the serious business of qualifying
and the race.
Ralf Schumacher (Car 7, Chassis TF106/10B)
First Session Classification: 26th, 1 lap completed
No lap time
Second Session Classification: 11th, 12 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m35.375s (+1.038s)
"The session went well, we had no real problems. Obviously
due to the wet conditions at the start of the second practice
session we had to wait before we could get a lap in. Early
on the track was a bit damp but it got better and better as
the sun came out. The car seems to be handling well but consistency
was not really possible in the changing conditions. It is
a bit difficult to know what tyre we should go for tomorrow
as we have had so little time on a dry track but hopefully
we will have a better idea of that after the practice session
tomorrow. I think our home fans can expect a strong performance
but we will have to wait and see exactly where we end up.
I still think our car is capable of finishing on the podium
in the right circumstances but we have to push hard and get
all the elements in place."
Jarno Trulli (Car 8, Chassis TF106/08B)
First Session Classification: 25th, 1 lap completed
No lap time
Second Session Classification: 9th, 12 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m35.343s (+1.006s)
"That was a difficult session because it was damp at
the beginning and then dried out. Towards the end the track
began to dry as the weather improved and we managed to do
a few laps on dry tyres in the last few minutes but there
is very little we can say about the session due to the conditions.
Thanks to the rain this morning we only completed one installation
lap in first practice. We had a new engine in the car today
after our retirement in China and that looks like being a
little step forward, hopefully it will help us. As this is
the team's home race, we expect to put up a strong challenge
and I hope today is the start of a good weekend."
Dieter Gass – Chief Engineer Race and Test
"We had a limited amount of time to work on the set-up
of the car due to the conditions but we know what is required
at Suzuka so that should not be a problem. I think it was
a productive day for us. We had the opportunity to check the
car balance on wet and dry tyres this afternoon and we will
obviously have to look into the comparisons again tomorrow
morning before we decide which tyres to choose. We are quite
used to finalising our tyre choice on a Saturday morning so
I don't think that is going to be a big problem for us. We
encountered some graining on the front tyres but we think
that will improve once the circuit gets rubbered in. Of course,
we are still optimistic for the weekend."
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