Today's Weather: Dry and bright apart from a brief shower between sessions. Air 21-22°C, track 28-36°C
Toyota's Best Japanese GP qualifying: 1st Ralf Schumacher 2005
Toyota's Best Japanese GP race result: 6th Jarno Trulli 2006
Take Note: Jarno Trulli has a new helmet design this weekend after a competition run by Panasonic.
The
design, which was chosen by Jarno from a wide range of hopefuls,
features a picture of Mount Fuji and is the work of 11-year-old
Japanese schoolgirl Yōu Terano. Timo's helmet also has new artwork here
at Fuji Speedway, including images of the Japanese flag and other
Japanese characters.
Timo Glock (Car 12, Chassis TF108-07)
Summary: Full day, learning the track early on before setting the fastest time in the afternoon
P1 18th Best Lap Time: 1m 20.823s (+1.913s) Laps: 37
P2 1st Best Lap Time: 1m 18.383s (fastest) Laps: 44
"That
was a good day. This was the first time I have driven at the Fuji
Speedway so I had to learn the track this morning. It didn't take too
long - two or three laps, but it's not an easy circuit. It's especially
difficult to find the right compromise for the long high speed straight
and the last sector which is very technical. But we sorted out a lot of
stuff and we brought everything together for the second practice, which
went well. I had a nice lap near the beginning of the session and it's
great for the team to end up quickest on Friday here in Japan. So far
I'm happy and it would be nice to keep the position like this
for the whole weekend. That will obviously be difficult but hopefully
the local fans will give us an extra boost."
Jarno Trulli (Car 11, Chassis TF108-05)
Summary: Another busy Friday, ending up with the 10th quickest lap of the day
P1 15th Best Lap Time: 1m 20.657s (+1.747s) Laps: 33
P2 10th Best Lap Time: 1m 18.863s (+0.480s) Laps: 45
"Today
was a nice, smooth day. We tested several things in order to improve
the car's performance. Timo and I carried out different programmes in
order to collect data from all areas of the car and it went well. This
is Toyota's home race so it is an important event for us. There is no
extra pressure but we just really want to do well in front of our home
fans. As a team we get a lot of support in Japan but the local people
have also been big fans of me personally down the years. They always
give me a great welcome and the support gives extra motivation for me
to get a good result for them. We've been unlucky to miss out on points
in recent races
so I hope that turns around this weekend."
Dieter Gass, Chief Engineer Race and Test
"It's
always nice to have everybody behind us on the timesheets - especially
considering the fact that we did our best time early in the afternoon
session when the circuit was still not at its best. Apart from that we
had a very productive day. We had a lot of new parts on the car which
we tried successfully in both practice sessions and we collected some
interesting results from that. So where we are today is a very good
baseline to look forward to the rest of the weekend. Needless to say we
will be working as hard as ever to come away with a good result in
front of our home crowd."
Panasonic Toyota Racing, featuring... One Team, One Aim: Cultures Combine at Panasonic Toyota Racing
Panasonic
Toyota Racing may be based in Cologne, Germany, but its spiritual heart
is back in Japan so this weekend is a very special event. The bond has
been strengthened in recent years with the increasing adoption of the
Toyota Way, of which Kaizen - or continuous improvement - is a
cornerstone. With over 30 different nationalities among the 650 or so
staff at the factory, Panasonic Toyota Racing is a United Nations of
F1. Chairman and Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina believes this mix is
what gives the team its unique potential, adding: "The strength of the
Japanese engineers is that they have lots of experience of working in
the Toyota Way. The strength of the European and other engineers is
that they have been working in F1 and motorsport for many years. We
combine their
respective strengths, so the Japanese engineers teach their
counterparts when the Toyota style of working is most appropriate, and
learn from the local engineers when the Formula 1 approach is best,
feeding what they've learned back to Japan."
|