Cristiano
da Matta - Car Number 16
"We don't have any major new parts for the Spanish Grand Prix but what
makes me excited about going to Barcelona is that our car has run better in
testing there than all the other tracks we have been at so far this year.
The TF104 suits the Circuit de Catalunya quite well, so I hope we can
perform a little bit better there than we have been at the other races so
far this year. Last year, I scored my first ever F1 points at Barcelona when
I finished in sixth place, so I will be looking for a repeat performance
this weekend."
Olivier
Panis - Car Number 17
"I must have done thousands and thousands of testing kilometres around
Barcelona. The circuit has traditionally been good for Panasonic Toyota
Racing. We were very competitive at last year's event, running in the top
six all weekend. For this year's race we should hopefully be a little bit
better than at the first four races of the season.
It's a very tough circuit
for the car, hard on the tyres and very physical with a lot of high speed
corners. The TF104 is better at handling high speed corners compared to last
year's TF103, so we'll be pushing as hard as ever to close the gap on the
teams in front and perhaps we could score our first points."
Ricard Zonta- Car Number 38
"Like most of the drivers, I know the Circuit de Catalunya extremely
well. I've raced there many times and tested there even more. It's a very
challenging track and it's especially difficult to overtake. Downforce and
aerodynamics make a big difference to setting a quick lap time, so these
areas are a priority. Reliability is always important, but more so in
Barcelona because all the teams that go there know their set-ups already,
and they know the limits of the car. By the time we put our lap time
together, it is really difficult to improve much more on that. Whatever
happens, we will all be hoping for an improved race weekend in Spain this
weekend."
Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal
"Over viewing the opening four races of the season, we have regrettable
not scored any championship points. However, we are working flat-out on
continuous improvements to the TF104, particularly for the latter half of
this season and also for next year, so we will get there in time. The
Barcelona track is quite favourable for Toyota. Last year, we scored our
first points of the season there and I really hope we can do the same this
year. We still need to benefit from a bit of luck, but it would be a great
reward for all of our hard work to share our first points of 2004 with the
global Toyota family and fans this weekend."
Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis
"The Circuit de Catalunya is obviously a track on which everyone has
done a lot of testing in the pre-season period and it is a circuit that
requires good aerodynamic efficiency. As a team, Panasonic Toyota Racing has
made progress over the last few races and we have some minor updates on the
aero side for the Spanish Grand Prix. Over the last couple of races we have
found a good balance on the car and I think that will benefit us in
Barcelona. Certainly, we have moved closer to the group of cars in front of
us and we now have to try to qualify ahead of that group and subsequently
race in front of them. If we can do that, I am pretty confident we can pick
up some points, which has to be our aim for this weekend."
Weekend in numbers:
43,900 - Combined sales of Toyota and Lexus in Spain in 2003
15,000 - Sales of Toyota Corolla in Spain in 2003, making it the biggest
selling Toyota model
8,094 - Number of kilometres completed by Panasonic Toyota Racing in testing
at the Circuit de Catalunya so far in 2004
5,777 - Kilometres completed by the TF104s in race weekends so far in 2004
1,712 - Combined number of laps completed by Olivier Panis, Cristiano da
Matta, Ricardo Zonta and Ryan Briscoe in tests at Barcelona so far in 2004
1,091 - Laps completed by Panis, Da Matta and Zonta in race weekends so far
in 2004
111 - Number of employees working at Toyota Spain
66 - Number of laps which make up the Spanish Grand Prix
6 - Toyota's best grid position in the Spanish Grand Prix (Panis, 2003)
4.627 - Length of the Circuit de Catalunya in kilometres
4 - Da Matta's best Friday qualifying result of 2003 scored in Barcelona
3.1 - Percentage of market share held by Toyota Spain in 2003
3 - Number of points which Cristiano da Matta took at the 2003 Spanish GP,
his first points in Formula 1 |