German GP Friday Tyrrell notes

GERMAN GRAND PRIX [31.07.98] SPIN DOCTORS GET TO WORK

HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY, July 31, 1998 -- There was much on-course incident during the first day of preparations for this Sunday's German Grand Prix as teams endeavoured to get to grips with the daunting, high-speed track. This marked the first time the new-generation, narrow-track Formula One cars have run on the German circuit. Tyrrell drivers, Ricardo Rosset and Toranosuke Takagi, both spun their cars as they endeavoured to sort out suitable chassis set-ups and evaluate the Prime and Option tyres being supplied by Goodyear for this race. They also reported that the track surface was particularly dirty and bumpy.

TORANOSUKE TAKAGI (No 21) Position: 17th Best lap: 1:46.743 "We spent today trying to get the car to handle correctly. I think initially we had it set too stiffly, which made it difficult to drive. That is why I spun a couple of times. Unfortunately, the engine stalled following my first spin and I lost most of the morning session as a result. We made a number of set-up changes during the break, and the situation improved this afternoon. We still need to get the car to cope better with the bumps here, however, if we are to set a good time in qualifying. We will work with the engineers overnight and hopefully we will be able to find a good chassis set-up for tomorrow."

RICARDO ROSSET (No 20) Position: 22nd Best lap: 1:49.986 "The biggest problem today was trying to find chassis settings that would provide a good ride on the bumpy surface here at Hockenheim while still allowing us to get through the chicanes and the Stadium section effectively. We did make some progress this morning but, unfortunately, I spun this afternoon after we had put some new settings on the car, went across a gravel trap and stalled the engine. We therefore lost valuable set-up time. We will obviously have to make up for lost time tomorrow, and that will include doing a back-to-back evaluation of the Goodyear Option and Prime tyres."

DR HARVEY POSTLETHWAITE, Managing Director, Tyrrell "The chassis set-up is not yet right for either of our drivers, even if the peculiar problems of Hockenheim are a new experience for them. Nevertheless, we have made some progress and provided tomorrow's qualifying session is dry, I think that Tora in particular could do well.