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Jarno Trulli
What are your thoughts heading to Fuji Speedway?
For
us it is an important event in general because it is definitely a home
race for us and we want to enjoy a strong result in front of our home
fans.
So
we are all looking forward to going to Fuji Speedway and hopefully we
will be competitive, with a good performance and a good result. The
final races this season are vital in the fight for fourth in the
Constructors' Championship and we have to make the most of every
opportunity to score points. It is a race I am really looking forward
to.
Do you enjoy driving at Fuji Speedway?
It
is an interesting circuit and the facilities there are really good. As
a track the main characteristic is the exceptionally long straight, but
then you also have a twisty infield so you have to make a compromise on
set-up between high speed on the straight and good grip in the corners.
That makes it quite challenging, and I enjoy a challenge!
Do you enjoy a lot of support from the Japanese fans?
As
a team we get a lot of support from the Japanese fans because Toyota
originates in Japan. Also, they have always big fans of me personally
and they have given me great support throughout the years. They always
give me a fantastic welcome to Japan and they are really warm and
supporting. I really enjoy going to Japan because I have a lot of
support and my fans in Japan are very close to me. Every year we meet
and have an evening together; we have a chat and spend time together.
It's great fun and it's wonderful to enjoy such loyal support. It gives
extra motivation for me to get a good result for them.
Timo Glock
Have you driven at Fuji Speedway before?
This
will be my first visit to Fuji Speedway because last year I missed the
Japanese Grand Prix as it clashed with the final GP2 races of the
season - when I won the title in Valencia. I have driven in the
Japanese Grand Prix before, back in 2004, but that was at Suzuka.
Obviously I have already studied the lay-out at Fuji and I have driven
the track on a computer game, but that is not really the same thing as
seeing it in real life. It looks like an interesting track and my first
impression is that it has a massive straight!
Are you looking forward to you first Japanese Grand Prix as a Panasonic Toyota Racing driver?
Absolutely.
The Japanese fans are so enthusiastic for every driver and team but I
expect it to be a really special feeling to be there as a Toyota
driver. Our Japanese fans give us great support all through the year
but to see so many of them in the grandstands cheering us on will be
cool. I know how eager our Japanese fans are for us to succeed and I
can promise them that we will be pushing as hard as possible. We have
the potential to get a memorable result and our priority is to score a
lot of points to help our fight for fourth in the Constructors'
Championship. I am feeling confident.
Is the Japanese Grand Prix busier than usual for you?
It
will definitely be a busy week. I stayed in Singapore for a few days
after the race and then I flew to Japan on Tuesday to do some
promotional work. It is our home race so there is a lot of extra
interest in the team and the drivers, which is great.
Tadashi Yamashina (Chairman and Team Principal)
Are you looking forward to the Japanese Grand Prix?
I
am very much looking forward to racing at Fuji Speedway. Last year was
the first time in 30 years that the track hosted a Grand Prix and I was
very impressed by the circuit. It is not only a home race for the team
but it is my home race personally and I will meet several friends and
colleagues while I am in Japan. That makes for a very special
atmosphere. Of course we will also welcome some of Toyota Motor
Corporation's top management to the track so I hope we can give a very
strong performance.
Is there extra pressure on the team for the Japanese Grand Prix?
I
would not say we have any extra pressure but of course we receive a lot
of encouragement from Toyota Motor Corporation; they make a lot of very
positive comments and they are very interested in the team's
performance. Inside the company we put ourselves under positive
pressure to do well at every race, and even more so at a home race like
Fuji. Team work is very important for Toyota and every part of the
company works as a team, so the support and encouragement we get from
top management helps us. They are pushing us but it is not negative
pressure.
What are your goals for the Japanese Grand Prix and the remainder of the season?
We
want to score a lot of points in the Japanese Grand Prix and hopefully
fight for the podium. For the rest of the season it is very important
to close the gap on the leading teams because at the moment this is
bigger than it should be. We will fight to finish on the podium again
and we will continue to pursue our ultimate ambition, which is to win
races.
John Howett (President)
The Japanese Grand Prix is a home race for Panasonic Toyota Racing, but is it the home race?
For
our team, there are three home races. The German race is naturally
considered to be our local event because we are based in Cologne;
obviously it is more local when it is at the Nürburgring but
nevertheless Hockenheim is also a home race. The Belgian Grand Prix at
Spa is only an hour from our factory but it is also the home event for
Toyota Europe, which is based in Brussels. Then we come to Fuji
Speedway and the Japanese Grand Prix. It is a very important event for
us and it is obviously a home race because Toyota originates from
Japan. At all these home races we enjoy a lot of local support and we
are especially keen to get the right results.
How Japanese is Panasonic Toyota Racing?
Toyota
has a corporate culture rather than a national culture; we have
manufacturing plants on all continents and we sell cars in virtually
all countries of the world. As a team, Panasonic Toyota Racing is, I
would say, global - we are too multi-national to say we are Japanese,
German or even European. Perhaps you could say our spiritual heart is
in Japan. We have a healthy contingent of Japanese team members but we
operate independently of our parent company. Basically we agree a
budget and a strategy prior to each year and they trust us to pursue
those targets.
Do you believe Panasonic Toyota Racing will finish fourth in the Constructors' Championship?
I
am confident we can finish fourth this season because I know we have
the potential and the will to achieve our targets. However, this team
does not exist to finish fourth; we exist to win. Therefore we have
other targets over the remainder of the season. We aim to improve our
performance relative to the other teams and that means fighting for
podium finishes - we are aggressively developing the car in order to do
that. At the same time we must continue the strong progress we have
made on the 2009 car. This is not an easy task but nothing about
Formula 1 is easy and we are ready for the challenge.
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