German Grand Prix - Preview
GLOCK AROUND THE HOCK
Panasonic Toyota Racing enjoys a home race this weekend when
Formula 1 returns to Hockenheim for the first German Grand
Prix since 2006. The track is just two hour's drive south
from the team's technical centre in Cologne, and even closer
to Timo Glock's family home in the Odenwaldkreis region. This
weekend's race will be the 26-year-old's first German Grand
Prix but Hockenheim is familiar hunting ground for a driver
who rose through the domestic German racing ranks. Timo won
his last race at Hockenheim, in GP2 in 2006, and both he and
team-mate Jarno Trulli are expecting to fight for points this
weekend. The team enjoyed a successful test at Hockenheim
last week, establishing baseline set-ups for the German Grand
Prix as well as trying out various aerodynamic upgrades. After
moving into fourth in the Constructors' Championship thanks
to Jarno's seventh place at Silverstone, Toyota aims to strengthen
its hold on that position at Hockenheim.
Jarno Trulli (Car 11): "Hockenheim
has changed a lot since I first raced there in Formula 1,
when it was all about top speed. I personally preferred the
old long circuit, with the extremely fast straights in the
forest, but the new version is still quite interesting and
there are opportunities to overtake. We had a promising test
last week at Hockenheim which was very useful because we have
not raced there for two years and we had the chance to study
set-ups and tyre behaviour. That was the first time we have
used the current Bridgestone Potenza tyres at Hockenheim and
it was important to understand their characteristics at this
circuit. We made good progress with some new aero parts and
hopefully this track will suit our car. I have finished in
the points for the last three races which shows how competitive
we are at the moment, so my target this weekend is to again
score points and fight for the top six. I am optimistic as
usual."
Timo Glock (Car 12): "Hockenheim is
one of my favourite circuits. It is only 45 minutes away from
where I grew up so it is my home race. That means I will have
friends and family coming down to watch me so it will be a
special race for me and I hope it will be a successful one.
Usually I have good races at Hockenheim and I've won a few
times, which is another reason why I enjoy racing there so
much! To have a good race there it is important to have strong
top speed but there is also the last sector where there are
slower corners, so you have to find the right balance. In
the end I think it is a good mix of different corners and
it's a fun track to drive. It was disappointing not to score
points in difficult conditions at Silverstone because the
opportunity was there but I am not downhearted; in fact I
am really looking forward to this race and I expect to have
a good weekend. It is important to me to perform well at my
home race and I'm feeling good."
Pascal Vasselon - Senior General Manager Chassis:
"The new Hockenheim circuit is more average in terms
of its characteristics than the previous lay-out. The braking
energy is in the middle of the range and the downforce level
is now medium to medium-high. What is normally above average
is the temperature and that is what is responsible for the
tyre blistering that we have sometimes seen. The ambient and
track temperatures are often extremely high and I'd say that
is the only real outstanding characteristic. This will be
the first time that we have been to Hockenheim with the current
tyres. Bridgestone's choice of the two hardest compounds in
the range is conservative because Hockenheim is a medium severity
track, a little like Magny-Cours. We are expecting a level
of performance more in keeping with our display at Magny-Cours
than Silverstone. That means we are hoping to be near the
front again. Actually, Magny-Cours and Hockenheim are now
very similar in terms of car configuration so we are expecting
to go well."
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