Turkish Grand Prix - Preview
TALKING TURKEY
Panasonic Toyota Racing returns to action in the Turkish
Grand Prix at Istanbul Park after the traditional Formula
1 summer break. Even though there has been an extended gap
between races, the team has been working as hard as ever since
the last race to prepare for this weekend. A floor update
and a new front wing will be introduced on the TF107s for
this race. Toyota arrives in Turkey with optimism after Ralf
Schumacher’s strong 6th place at the Hungarian Grand
Prix last time out. The 14-turn, 5.338km Istanbul Park is
the newest race track on the calendar and is regarded as one
of the most challenging, with significant elevation changes
and several corners inspired by the sport’s greatest
tracks. Hot weather is again expected, with temperatures of
over 30°C predicted, so heat and the low grip surface
of the track mean Bridgestone will bring the medium and hard
compounds of their Potenza tyre this weekend. Toyota has scored
points in both previous visits to Turkey and will again fight
to add to its tally in Sunday’s 58-lap race.
Ralf Schumacher (Car 11): “Hungary
was a very strong weekend for me and the team, with my best
qualifying and race results of the season. We looked really
competitive and had a good result so I am now looking forward
to building on that performance in Turkey. The Istanbul Park
is quite unusual for a modern circuit because it features
a lot of elevation changes and a varied mix of corners. It’s
an exciting track to drive. We have shown over the last few
races that we have become more competitive and we are moving
in the right direction. Our car seems to be reasonably competitive
on different kinds of circuits so we are hopeful again for
this weekend. It was important for the team to score points
in Hungary and now we will aim to do that again in Turkey.
I enjoyed the summer break but now I am ready to get back
to racing.”
Jarno Trulli (Car 12): “I am looking
forward to the Turkish Grand Prix after a relaxing break with
my family. In the end it was a disappointing weekend for me
in Hungary because we showed a lot of potential in practice
and early in qualifying, especially when I was 3rd in Q2,
but we did not get the result we hoped for. We need to work
hard to improve. The Istanbul track is obviously relatively
new and it’s most unique feature is Turn 8, which is
a tough corner. It is a long left-hander made up of three
corners which makes it a quick and very challenging part of
the track. I am looking forward to the weekend and I hope
we can get a decent result because we have shown if everything
goes well, our car is capable of scoring points. I am aiming
to keep up my good record of qualifying in the top 10 and
then hopefully I can score points again.”
Pascal Vasselon – Senior General Manager Chassis:
“We are looking forward to the Turkish Grand Prix and
we are optimistic of scoring points again after Ralf’s
6th place in Hungary. In terms of the Istanbul Park circuit,
it could be described as a standard new Formula 1 track if
it were not for Turn 8. This is a really outstanding corner,
which is very demanding physically for the drivers and also
for the tyres. For this reason, Bridgestone will bring the
harder tyres to Turkey. Since Magny-Cours we have made a step
in terms of overall performance, which you have seen from
our qualifying results, and it was positive to see that translate
into a race result. After the high downforce demands of Hungary,
we will return to a medium downforce window which seemed to
suit our car at Magny-Cours, Silverstone and the Nürburgring,
so we will be looking to continue the qualifying form we have
shown recently and build on Ralf’s race result in Hungary.
We were pleased to be fighting with the BMWs in Hungary so
now we expect to again see our drivers challenge for the top
six and hopefully get both cars in the points.”
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