Barcelona 31/05/06 – Toyota 4th and 6th fastest


By Nick Sparkes
June 2 2006

Toyota began its three day test at Barcelona, which will see the TF106 test alongside the new TF106B. Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta were on hand for the first day, and after a damp morning the team set about preparing for next weekends British Grand Prix.

At lunchtime the teams stopped for a minute silence to remember Edouard Michelin, who lost his life last Friday, and will be sadly missed in the paddock.

With most of serious action taking part in the afternoon, Toyota looked to strengthen the new TF106B by focusing on tyres and set-ups, with Ricardo Zonta driving the new car. Olivier Panis was left with the TF106, but even so worked on tyres and gaining data for the next Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa put the troubles of Monaco behind him by going fastest, the only driver to dip into the 1.14s. Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen were second and third quickest whilst Olivier Panis was a stunning fourth, completing well over 100 laps in his TF106.

Panis was positive about today’s results. "Today was a positive day for the team. Considering the track conditions I was able to do a lot of running. On my car, we were taking a lot of measurements and testing different set-ups, all the while gaining data on the tyres and their performance. We did not have any reliability problems with my car, and the times we ran today are also a positive sign."

Jenson Button’s Honda was between the two Toyota’s in fifth, with the new TF106B just a couple of hundredths behind.

Ricardo Zonta who will continue testing tomorrow, suffered a small extinguisher problem in the afternoon, although he didn’t let his hinder the teams progress. "We did a few laps in the morning, but the day did not really get underway until after the lunch break when the track finally dried up and we could work on our tyre and balance testing. We lost a little time when the fire extinguisher in my car began to leak, so the team had to repair this before we could go out again. Tomorrow we will continue to work on setting up the right balance for the car."

The only real disappointment of the day was the McLaren of Gary Paffett, who finished at the bottom of the times in fifteenth. His teammate Pedro de la Rosa finished seventh, although the team were trialing new aerodynamic parts in an attempt to move closer to the front of the grid.

1 F. Massa Ferrari Bridgestone 01:14.924 99
2 G. Fisichella Renault Michelin 01:15.053 66
3 H. Kovalainen Renault Michelin 01:15.264 90
4 O. Panis Toyota Bridgestone 01:15.534 123
5 J. Button Honda Michelin 01:15.535 102
6 R. Zonta Toyota Bridgestone 01:15.541 91
7 P. de la Rosa McLaren Michelin 11:15.826 70
8 L. Badoer Ferrari Bridgestone 01:15.876 40
9 R. Barrichello Honda Michelin 01:16.190 111
10 R. Kubica BMW Michelin 01:16.520 95
11 J. Villeneuve BMW Michelin 01:16.627 75
12 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso Michelin 01:17.282 87
13 C. Klien Red Bull Michelin 01:17.291 68
14 R. Doornbos Red Bull Michelin 01:17.345 85
15 G. Paffett McLaren Michelin 01:17.478 70