Formula One news

Ralf gives Toyota test a boost

Toyota welcomed race driver Ralf Schumacher back to the car on the second day of testing at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez in Spain on Thursday. Schumacher joined Kamui Kobayashi, a member of the Toyota Young Driver Programme, behind the wheel on a cloudy but dry day in southern Spain. Schumacher resumed where he left off in Barcelona last week, putting the 2007 Bridgestone tyres through their paces and helping the team find the optimum set-up. 

"Today was all right even though the conditions were not great on the track," Ralf said. "I found the new tyres more difficult here than at Barcelona last week - there was very low grip everywhere. We went through a few set-up options and changed a few things. Now we have to figure out the best set-up for these tyres. But I was able to set competitive lap times all day so that is always pleasing."

Chief engineer Dieter Gass added, "Today we did a lot of set-up work with Ralf in order to continue to get a clear understanding of the 2007 tyre generation from Bridgestone. We learnt quite a few things with the changes that we made so we are happy with that. Komui, like Kohei Hirate yesterday, did a day of solid running, without mistakes, on his second day in the car and had a run with quick and consistent lap times at the end of the day. Unfortunately both drivers' days were interrupted at times with some reliability issues which we will have to continue working on."

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