US Grand Prix – Free Practice Round-Up
INDY ZONE
Panasonic Toyota Racing hit the track in preparation for
the United States Grand Prix with two free practice sessions
on another hot and sunny day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Both Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli enjoyed a trouble-free
day of practice as they compared various set-up options for
the unusual demands of the Speedway, which features a banked
final corner unique in Formula 1. Ralf and Jarno wasted no
time putting their TF107s to the test at the home of American
motorsport and, thanks to perfect reliability, they were able
to gather a lot of useful information. Both drivers took the
opportunity to extensively try out the soft Bridgestone Potenza
tyres in the second session but the team focused on race pace
rather than speed over one lap, meaning Ralf was classified
20th with Jarno 17th. The team will now work hard to analyse
the data from both sessions before tomorrow’s final
practice and qualifying sessions.
Ralf Schumacher (Car 11, Chassis TF107/05)
First Session 13th 27 laps completed Lap Time: 1m 13.819s
(+1.894s)
Second Session 20th 39 laps completed Lap Time: 1m 13.765s
(+1.609s)
“It was a pretty difficult session for us. It was very
slippery out there and there was not a lot of grip. That was
partly down to the track conditions and they did improve as
the day went on. It’s difficult to tell where we really
are because it’s only Friday. Still we have some work
to do overnight. We tried several different options with our
set-up and now we have to look at the results from today so
we can get the maximum from the car in qualifying and the
race. It was positive to get through both sessions without
any problems with the car because we were able to make good
use of the three hours of track time. We are working hard
for tomorrow and I am looking forward to it.”
Jarno Trulli (Car 12, Chassis TF107/06)
First Session 11th 32 laps completed Lap Time: 1m 13.777s
(+1.852s)
Second Session 17th 42 laps completed Lap Time: 1m 13.692s
(+1.536s)
“That was a difficult session for me today. I found
the car quite difficult because there was very low grip in
general, as usual here at Indianapolis. We did quite a lot
of laps and we tried out different options, as well as both
kinds of tyres, but we have to work hard now to find a bit
more speed in the car before qualifying and the race. It was
positive we did not have any mechanical problems on the car
today and we were able to do all the work we planned. I’ve
always had very good races here at Indianapolis so we will
now try to get the best out of the car for qualifying and
get another good result.”
Dieter Gass – Chief Engineer Race and Test
“It was not an easy day today again. Both drivers were
struggling a lot with the lack of grip, especially in the
beginning of the sessions due to the track conditions. The
circuit did improve throughout the day but generally low grip
is common here because you have to run low downforce to get
top speed on the straight which penalises you in the infield.
That makes it quite difficult for the drivers. On a positive
note we ran through our extensive programme without any problems
on the car so tonight we are going to look at the data and
find the best compromise for the car tomorrow. I don’t
think it is as bad as it looks on the time sheets because
you have to consider what programmes other teams were running.
We were working on set-up and race preparations rather than
setting lap times today.”
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