Bahrain Test – Day 1
Location: Bahrain International Circuit
Drivers: Timo Glock, Kamui Kobayashi
Track length: 5.412km
MIDDLE EASTERN PROMISE
Panasonic Toyota Racing got its first test of a double-header
in Bahrain underway with Timo Glock and Kamui Kobayashi behind
the wheel of two TF108s on a sunny and mild day in the Middle
East. The main item on the agenda for Timo was to continue
to develop the set-up after solid progress in the last test
at Valencia established a strong baseline. Kamui got his first
chance to drive the TF108 so began by familiarising himself
with the car before making initial set-up changes. Kamui’s
programme was interrupted in the morning by a harmless spin
but his car suffered no serious damage and he was soon on
track again, while Timo’s set-up comparisons continued
apace. Timo also found himself in the gravel after a minor
afternoon off on a windy day but that did not stop him completing
his mechanical set-up programme. He will be joined tomorrow
by Jarno Trulli and the team expects to use the remainder
of the test to continue set-up work, as well as making cooling
checks in the warmer Bahraini weather and evaluating development
items.
Timo Glock - Chassis TF108-02
Best Lap Time: 1min 33.418s
Position: 3rd
Total laps: 72
“I had quite a good day and we did a lot of useful
work. In the morning there was a lot of sand on the track
and from lap to lap we went quicker as the track got cleaner.
It was difficult to get consistent track conditions but towards
the end of the day it was better and we did some important
tests. It has been a pretty good session and it was important
to do these mechanical set-up changes. I hope tomorrow is
less windy and we can continue this work.”
Kamui Kobayashi - Chassis TF108-03
Best Lap Time: 1min 33.856s
Position: 4th
Total laps: 62
“This was the first time I have driven the TF108 and
also the first time I have driven here in Bahrain. That meant
it was quite a tough day for me learning the track and the
car but it was good as well. The TF108 definitely has a lot
of potential and today I could feel we are making good progress
with it. We are heading in the right direction but we need
to work hard and continue to improve performance. The track
was not ideal with all the sand this morning and it was also
windy but we were still able to do a lot of work without any
car trouble.”
Gerd Pfeiffer, Test Team Manager
“The track conditions on this first day made it quite
challenging because there was a lot of sand on the circuit
in the morning but as this cleared up and more rubber went
down, the lap times improved. In these circumstances it is
a bit tricky to make set-up comparisons but we gained a lot
of data and we believe we have made some important steps.
Now we will build on this strong start tomorrow with more
set-up work and test item evaluation.”
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