Italian GP: Toyota Saturday qualifying notes

After a troublesome free practice session this morning, Olivier Panis's Italian Grand Prix weekend started to come together in Monza today as he claimed 9th place in second qualifying. His Panasonic Toyota Racing team-mate Cristiano da Matta, however, was not satisfied with his lap and will line up three places further back in 12th.

Olivier Panis:

"This weekend has been pretty difficult for me, so I am pleased with my qualifying lap today. We had some electronics problems in practice this morning, but everyone has worked well to improve the balance of the car for today's session. We are now in a good direction for the race and starting from ninth, I think we will again be in a position to fight for points tomorrow."

Cristiano da Matta:

"Not a great qualifying lap for me this afternoon. I made a small mistake at Ascari and probably lost two or three tenths, which was a shame. Even so, the level of our performance today was not as high compared to yesterday's sessions and we need to figure out why. The Italian Grand Prix is a long race and quite tough, particularly in terms of reliability, but I am confident that we can reach the finish and get a good result."

Keizo Takahashi - General Manager Car Design and Development:

"This qualifying result is satisfying for the Panasonic Toyota Racing team. I am pleased with Olivier setting the ninth fastest time, given that he missed one of this morning's free practice session due to electronic problems. Cristiano's car was not as competitive as yesterday, but I think both cars should be in reasonably good shape to challenge for points in the Grand Prix tomorrow."

Olivier Panis
Car Number 20, Chassis TF103/07
Session Classification: 9th
Lap Time: 1m22.488s +1.525s from pole
Running Order: 11th

Cristiano da Matta
Car Number 21, Chassis TF103/04
Session Classification: 12th
Lap Time: 1m22.914s +1.951s from pole
Running Order: 17th

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