Austrian GP Friday Tyrrell notes

AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX [24.07.98]

STORMY WEATHER

A1 RING, SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA, July 24, 1998 -- A dramatic overnight storm that lashed the Styrian region of Austria also had a substantial effect on the first day of testing for this Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix. Heavy rain left the track surface of the A1 Ring very "green" - lacking in grip - and virtually all drivers, including Tyrrell's Ricardo Rosset and Toranosuke Takagi, spent Friday's two one-hour sessions grappling with the problem. It is anticipated that as more rubber goes down on the surface, the situation will improve. Both drivers and their race engineers spent the time working primarily on chassis set-up with Takagi putting in two extended runs in the afternoon session to compare the Prime and Option tyres Goodyear has supplied for this race. Rosset's efforts were thwarted by an elusive engine problem that prevented him from running at competitive speeds, although he did make some useful progress with suspension settings on his car. The Cosworth-tended, Ford Zetec-R engines in both cars will be changed overnight.

TORANOSUKE TAKAGI (No 21) Position: 15th Best lap: 1:15.158

"We made reasonable progress today, but it would be nice to have a little more grip from the track. Hopefully, the situation will improve and we can get down to fine-tuning the handling tomorrow. The back-to-back runs we did with Goodyear's tyres were rather inconclusive and I had one slight trip off the circuit trying a little too hard. All being well, I think we should improve tomorrow."

RICARDO ROSSET (No 20) Position: 22nd Best lap: 1:18.469

"The day's efforts were spoilt by an engine problem that was losing me two seconds a lap compared with Tora. We believe we have made some useful progress with the handling today, but we weren't able to evaluate the changes fully because of the engine difficulties. We also didn't want to waste tyres with a down-on-power engine. With a fresh V10 installed overnight, I hope we can make up for lost time tomorrow."

DR HARVEY POSTLETHWAITE, Managing Director, Tyrrell

"The changing track conditions today made it difficult to make conclusive decisions but it was ever thus! Tora likes the A1 Ring and some of the small modifications that the team made to the cars before this race seem to have helped the balance. Ricardo's Ford Cosworth engine problem all session did not help him refine his car as much as he should, but I am confident that we will qualify well."