Turkish GP: Toyota Saturday qualifying notes

Panasonic Toyota Racing will line up for tomorrow's inaugural Turkish Grand Prix with two cars in the top ten of the grid after a strong performance this afternoon in qualifying. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher will start from 5th and 9th places respectively after both drivers put in solid laps on a sunny day at the Istanbul Park.

Toyota will now head into Sunday's race aiming for another points finish from both drivers, who have been helped here in Turkey by an improved aero package including a revised floor and a modified rear wing. The team currently stands in 4th place in the constructors' championship with a total of 68 points and is confident of increasing that haul tomorrow.

TURKISH ME QUICK

Jarno Trulli put in yet another fine qualifying lap to take 5th on the grid for the Turkish Grand Prix, adding to his impressive portfolio of top five grid slots in 2005.

Jarno Trulli:

"That was another good lap because we have been struggling to finalise the set-up on my car this weekend. I was not at all happy with the balance this morning, so I changed the set-up completely for qualifying. That meant I went into qualifying without knowing how the car would behave."

"It was a bit windier than before so the car was a bit more nervous and that made qualifying more difficult than usual. But it worked pretty well, so that was another good performance from myself and the team. My target tomorrow is to score points and maybe even push for a podium."

ISTANBUL FIGHT AHEAD

Ralf Schumacher made it into the top ten in qualifying for tomorrow's first ever Turkish Grand Prix at the Istanbul Park. The performance sets him up for a chance of his fifth consecutive points finish.

Ralf Schumacher:

"That could have been a very good lap but I obviously lost quite a bit of time in Turn Nine. Perhaps I was trying a bit too hard, but apart from that the grip was there and my lap was going well. Nonetheless we're still in reasonable shape to come away with a good result tomorrow."

"Jarno's in a really good position, it's slightly more difficult for me again but it's quite possible for both of us to score points. We'll see how possible it is to overtake tomorrow, but another strong points finish is what we are after."

GIVING IT GASS

Panasonic Toyota Racing is confident of another double points finish in tomorrow's Turkish Grand Prix in the wake of today's qualifying session.

Dieter Gass - Chief Race Engineer:

"I think we can be quite satisfied with our positions for tomorrow's race. This morning we struggled to get the tyres to work. It obviously went a bit better in the afternoon with the higher temperatures. But Jarno once again delivered for the team with a fine qualifying lap."

"It is a pity that Ralf had a small off in Turn Nine, otherwise we could have taken over the third row. But both drivers are still in a good position for a strong race performance tomorrow. They're both on the clean side of the grid, so our realistic target is two strong points finishes. It will be very difficult to fight for a podium but we will try anyway."

Jarno Trulli
Car 16, Chassis TF105/07
GRID: 5th
First Practice Classification: 13th
Lap Time: 1m28.468s (+1.611s)
Laps: 6
Second Practice Classification: 12th
Lap Time: 1m27.921s (+1.801s)
Laps: 15
Qualifying Classification: 5th
Lap Time: 1m27.501s (+0.704s)
Laps: 3

Ralf Schumacher
Car 17, Chassis TF105/05
GRID: 9th
First Practice Classification: 11th
Lap Time: 1m28.049s (+1.192s)
Laps: 9
Second Practice Classification: 8th
Lap Time: 1m27.556s (+1.436s)
Laps: 13
Qualifying Classification: 9th
Lap Time: 1m28.594s (+1.797s)
Laps: 3

-toyota-