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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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