28/05/2005
NEWS STORY
Another strong qualifying session from Panasonic Toyota Racing saw Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher qualify in 4th and 8th positions for tomorrow's European Grand Prix. With so many Toyota employees and fans cheering from the stands, the team will now go into Sunday's race looking to convert its hard-earned positions into more points, or even another visit to the podium.
Jarno Trulli put in a storming lap of the Nürburgring to make the second row of the grid for tomorrow's race. The Italian went out relatively early in the session while the track was still improving, but he made the most of his chance.
Jarno Trulli: "That was a good lap so I'm very happy. I pushed as hard as I could, made no errors and got everything out of the car. I put in some work yesterday and today on the balance of the car, and it felt very good during qualifying. We are also confident with our strategy for the race, so now I hope to be able to keep that form going and do a good race. It's good to have so much sun and hot weather here at the Nürburgring. The weather here is often a big factor in the race and while there could be thunderstorms we hope it stays good. It's great to have so many of the team here supporting us and it would be wonderful to get a good result so we can dedicate it to the whole team."
Ralf Schumacher overcame understeer to qualify on the 4th row for Sunday's European Grand Prix. With lots of local support from the grandstands he will now try to score yet more points tomorrow.
Ralf Schumacher: "We would have liked to have been a bit further forward but I had quite a bit of understeer and low grip generally, so that's why the lap time slipped away from me. I have been struggling all weekend to find a good balance. But it worked well on Jarno's car so we'll have to look at the data overnight and see the difference. Of course every race is important but with so many fans, team members and people from the factory here we'll do our best to convert this into a good result tomorrow. We'll have to see what the weather does, but we'll certainly be aiming for a good points finish and if possible the podium."
After a positive Saturday qualifying session, Panasonic Toyota Racing will look to bring both cars home in the points at tomorrow's European Grand Prix.
Dieter Gass – Chief Race Engineer: "I think we can be very pleased with the qualifying today. Jarno did another very good lap and Ralf is in a good position too. Ralf reported too much understeer, so overnight we'll look at the data to understand why. But other than that we had no problems. I think we have made the proper tyre choice for the race. That means we can look forward to tomorrow afternoon. We are confident about our race strategy so we'll see how it pans out. Hopefully we can bring a good result home for all the supporters who will be here to cheer us on."