04/09/2004
NEWS STORY
Olivier Panis: "Our plan for the week was to carry out an important tyre test and to tune the car with some new parts in preparation for next week's Italian Grand Prix here at Monza. We've managed to finish most of the plan. We had a few interruptions on Thursday, but it's better to have those at the test than next week at the grand prix. The tyres we have been testing for the race here look quite good, so overall it's not been a bad week. Unfortunately late on Friday I was approaching the second chicane when I went off after suffering a depressurization of my left rear tyre, probably caused by a problem with the valve. It was an abrupt end to the test but thankfully I am completely okay. From here I'm heading off to Paul Ricard on Tuesday for a shakedown of the car that will race at the Italian Grand Prix. Then it's back here for next week's race. It's difficult to say how we might perform in the grand prix itself because we never know what everybody's been doing with fuel and tyres, but if we keep working we have quite a positive base to score points."
Ricardo Zonta: "I spent Thursday working on tyres and set-up for Monza, along with a few new parts like brakes. I stopped out on the circuit on Thursday morning with a hydraulic leak, but I put in more laps in the afternoon. Friday was a better day, with much more mileage completed. That gave us time to improve the balance and carry out a lot of back-to-back runs looking mainly at tyres and traction control. Looking back to last week, of course it was disappointing not to bring the points home from Spa, but on the other hand I'm happy to have been on the pace there. The speed of the car was good as well – I was quicker than a few cars that we have struggled to beat at other tracks. So things are looking good for a positive weekend back here for the Italian Grand Prix."
Ryan Briscoe: "Most of the work we've done at Monza has been in preparation for the Italian Grand Prix which will take place here next weekend. I just did one day of running here, working on electronics, traction control and differential on consistent tyres from Michelin. That means that when we come to the race weekend, even if the track conditions are different we should already have a certain amount of data about gear ratios, wing levels and electronic mapping. Come next Friday we'll have a better idea than usual about tyre choice because Olivier and Ricardo have tested them this week, but we'll still have to make the final decision on the Friday as usual. This was my first time in the car since my Spa practice accident, but I have felt no after-effects. The whole chassis is very safe and the HANS device also did its job. I had a little bit of pain the day after but since Sunday I have been 100 percent."