Toyota put in important wet mileage in Spain

Important data
By Site Staff (19/02/03)
February 20 2003

Day two of Toyota's Barcelona test was hampered by heavy and persistent rain at the Catalunya circuit, but that didn't stop the team from completing some very important wet mileage. The comments from the drivers after the wet running were encouraging.

Olivier Panis completed 41 laps in the TF103, and congratulated Michelin for the improvements they had made to their wet weather tyre. "The TF103 car feels quite good to drive in the wet conditions, I have to say," Panis said at the end of the day. "We did a lot of set-up work today and Michelin have made a big step forward with the wet tyres; we found some interesting things today with the tyres. Some small problems during the day meant that we were not on track when it was at its best, but overall I am very happy with progress."

Cristiano da Matta continued to put time in on the TF102B chassis, and seemed happier today than yesterday despite the aweful track conditions.

"The weather has been absolutely dreadful all day. Sometimes the track was so wet it was a big deal just to keep on the track, but the day was not totally lost," he said. "We completed some further work on software development that we started yesterday and we also did some pit stop practice to get ready for Australia. I am looking forward to driving the TF103 tomorrow."

Tomorrow (Thursday) is the final day of pre-season testing at Barcelona, and Toyota will do a driver swap with Panis taking the interim car and da Matta the 2003 challenger.

Wednesday At Barcelona:

Ralf Schumacher Williams 54 1:31.578
Juan Pablo Montoya Williams 53 1:31.950
Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan 27 1:32.488
Fernando Alonso Renault 25 1:32.685
Ralph Firman Jordan 51 1:32.719
Mark Webber Jaguar 47 1:33.055
Olivier Panis Toyota 38 1:34.003
Marc Gene Williams 33 1:34.201
Jenson Button BAR 31 1:34.981
Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar 46 1:35.027
Cristiano Da Matta Toyota 51 1:40.000
Jacques Villeneuve BAR 25 1:40.400