Formula One news

Toyota caught by surprise in Bahrain

Toyota escaped the European winter for its double-header test at the Bahrain International Circuit, which began in the Gulf state on Thursday. The final multi-team test before the start of the season kicked off under clear skies and in warm sunshine with race drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli behind the wheel. 

The hot weather gave the team a chance to try out the new Bridgestone tyres for the first time in the kind of conditions expected at many races this year. The team also had new aerodynamic parts on the car for evaluation. Trulli's day barely started before a gearbox control issue forced him back into the garage for lengthy repairs while Schumacher took advantage of the near-perfect conditions to register some early laps. Unfortunately Schumacher was also halted as lunchtime approached when a clutch needed repairing, but when the green flags waved to start the afternoon session, both drivers were back on track. Minor repairs caused further delays and the team is now looking forward to a more positive second day.

Dieter Gass, chief engineer commented, "This was definitely not the first day we imagined here. We faced quite a few issues during the day which prevented us running through our programme smoothly. On Ralf's car after trouble with the clutch we had a problem with the differential control which investigated throughout the afternoon. With Jarno's car we had a gearbox control issue in the morning which cost us a lot of time. Overall unfortunately we couldn't do a lot of work on the car. We will have to continue with our programme and we are still optimistic as there are nearly two weeks of testing left here in Bahrain."

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