Australia: Practice and Qualifying 1.

By TTF1
March 5 2005

It wasn't looking very promising for Panasonic Toyota Racing throughout the practices down under, with TF1911 starting a thread on our message board titled 'we suck.' But, what a result for Jarno today in Qualifying 1!

Jarno Trulli  (Car 16, Chassis TF105/03)

First Practice Classification: 9th
Lap Time: 1m49.623s (+9.083s)
Laps: 8

Second Practice Classification: 13th
Lap Time: 1m31.701 (+4.404s)
Laps: 18

First Qualifying Classification: 2nd
Lap Time: 1m35.270s (+2.099s)
Laps: 3

"I could not have asked for a better start to the new season with my new
team than to be second quickest in what was a very hectic qualifying. We
were lucky with the track conditions, but even though I had a benefit, it
was still a quick lap compared to the runners who were out in similar
conditions. We have been working on different testing in the practice
sessions and the car has been strong. The performance is certainly there.
With the new aggregate qualifying rule, we have a big advantage today, so I
hope to translate that into points in tomorrow's race. But first we have
second qualifying in the morning and as we have seen today, anything can
happen."

Ralf Schumacher (Car 17, Chassis TF105/04)

First Practice Classification: 5th
Lap Time: 1m45.687s (+5.147s)
Laps: 6

Second Practice Classification: 16th
Lap Time: 1m34.924 (+7.627s)
Laps: 10

First Qualifying Classification: 17th
Lap Time: 1m51.495s (+18.324s)
Laps: 3

"It was a bit difficult today with the session turning into a real lottery
for everyone. Some drivers got luckier than others and unfortunately I was
one of the guys with the bad luck. The track was extremely wet and there was
a lot of aquaplaning. With the new qualifying format and the huge difference
in lap times, it could be that Giancarlo and Jarno will make up the front
row of the grid tomorrow. Although it was a day to forget for me, it is
obviously good for the team that Jarno has such a strong position ahead of
the decisive qualifying in the morning."

Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis
"A very eventful qualifying session that turned out to have mixed fortunes
for us. Jarno got nearly the best of the track conditions, but I still think
his lap was exceptional to be P2 with a significant time advantage over the
drivers who went out for their runs at around the same time. That time gain
will prove to be hugely beneficial for final qualifying in the morning.
Unfortunately, the rain towards the end of the session left Ralf with some
of the worst conditions and that made his job very difficult. We have to see
what conditions we will have tomorrow but for Jarno it looks highly
promising indeed and we need to look to get the car on the front row
tomorrow."

What do you think of the new Quali format? Discuss it on our messageboard.