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Bridgestone's super soft tyre allowed Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Jarno
Trulli to qualify on pole and head up the first ever all-Toyota front row
for tomorrow's Bahrain Grand Prix.
Trulli set a time of 1min 33.431secs, almost three tenths ahead of team-mate
Timo Glock. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) went third fastest. Track
conditions were improved from Friday, with more rubber laid and the
temperatures were even hotter. Glock used the super soft tyre to go fastest
in the morning practice session with a time of 1min 32.605secs.
Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre
Development
What was significant about today's running?
"Today was very good for Toyota as both of their cars qualified on the front
row, so congratulations to them and Jarno Trulli for his fourth pole
position. We saw further progress from Friday's running with the circuit
grip level improved, particularly in the practice session, due to the track
being cleared of sand, and more rubber being laid. Qualifying was very
exciting through every session, with even the faster cars using the super
soft tyre to get through the first qualifying session."
How are the two compounds working here in Bahrain?
"We are seeing an interesting weekend in terms of tyre performance. The
super soft tyre has worked very well so far this weekend. It delivers a good
fast lap time on average 0.7 seconds faster than the medium tyre. In terms
of degradation the super soft presents an interesting challenge. Some teams
can use the super soft for a long stint, however some teams will have to
work hard to maintain the super soft from degradation. This means that usage
of the super soft tyre will be the key point to the race. The medium tyre
takes longer to warm up than the super soft, even in these hot conditions.
In the race medium tyre will be very durable, however with a slower ultimate
lap time than the super soft." |
