Toyota testing at Valencia progressing well

More confidence
By Site Staff
February 2 2003

Toyota wrapped up a three day test at Valencia last Thursday, with both Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta getting in some much needed test mileage. Both men commented on the improvements made since the initial shakedown.

The two men completed 140 laps between them on the last day, working on component resilience, setup, and tyres. "I want to say that I am happy with the outcome of this test," Olivier Panis commented on Thursday. "We had some small problems here and there but overall the new parts we have tested have given us some good results, especially today. The team has done a great job to achieve an extensive programme with some long days here in Valencia and back at the factory in Cologne, so thanks to everyone in the team for their combined efforts."

Despite the relative lack of F1 experience, Cristiano da Matta had only good things to say about the direction the team is going. "My car felt better again today and we are going in a positive direction," he said. "I exchanged a bit of information with Olivier this morning and I adopted some of his settings. During the day, we continued to thoroughly test several new parts, which brought a real improvement to the overall balance. I have enjoyed my first trip to Valencia. The track is short, but has some nice slow corners, which are particularly good for testing."

The team are now on their way to Barcelona where they will start a 4 day test on Sunday the 2nd of February.