07/09/2004
NEWS STORY
Ricardo Zonta: "To show everyone we could run fourth at Spa was a great confidence-booster both for me and for the team. I have a much better feel for the car in race conditions and I know how hard I can push to get the best out of the whole TF104B package. Now we head to Monza where I believe Panasonic Toyota Racing has a greater chance of doing well than at some of the slow speed tracks. But we still need to work hard in order to get into the points. The Italian Grand Prix is the last European race of the year, so I hope we can get a good result to build up the momentum before the new-look season finale in China, Japan and Brazil."
Olivier Panis: "I am very positive about this weekend's Italian Grand Prix. We have a very strong engine, so that should certainly help us on Monza's long straights, and the TF104B is an improved chassis aerodynamically, which will be advantageous. If we have consistent tyres again and we race without any problems we should be able to score points. It's difficult to judge how competitive the other teams will be this weekend based on last week's extensive Monza test because we do not know in which configurations everyone else was running. However, following on from our single point in Spa, our objective as a team is to move up the constructors' championship. At the moment we are in eighth place, so we must try our best to reduce the gap to the top six."
Ryan Briscoe: "I have raced only twice at Monza, but it's a track I know well from testing. I've enjoyed my first two races as Panasonic Toyota Racing's third driver. Friday is a busy day and arguably the most important of the weekend because we have limited time to do a lot of work. We have to make quick decisions, be very quick with set-up changes and get as much running with the car as possible. All teams come to Monza with a certain amount of data from last week's test, but even though we tested the Michelin tyres, the temperatures might be different and there will be different amounts of rubber on the track, so we will have to go through the whole programme and make the choice as normal."
Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal: "From an operations point of view, I think the Belgian Grand Prix was one of the best performances in Toyota's short F1 history, and is the evidence of our continued growth. The engine failure that prevented us from capitalising on our strategy in Spa was caused by a broken bearing. We have done everything in our power to ensure this problem never recurs. Everyone at Panasonic Toyota Racing is now ready for a successful Italian GP weekend. We hope to benefit from the high-speed nature of the Monza track, which should play to the strengths of our TF104B. We have cleared many hurdles during this challenging season and now we are ready for the overdue results. Scoring championship points in Monza would be a good start."