Set-up problems hampered the opening day of action for the Panasonic Toyota Racing team in Imola last year with Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta in 12th and 18th positions respectively after the first qualifying session.

After a discouraging free practice hour which saw the Toyota duo line up 16th (Da Matta) and 17th (Panis), extensive set-up changes between sessions improved the handling of Panis's TF103, but a driver error in the first sector of his flying lap left Da Matta back down the field.

Saturday morning free practice saw further improvements to the handling of both TF103s, with work focused on Michelin tyre evaluation. Panis was classified in a highly respectable 10th (1m24.099s) with Da Matta completing 40 laps, ending the session 14th (1m24.683s).

The positive results from Saturday morning were transformed into a third trip to the top ten in qualifying with Olivier Panis securing tenth position. Da Matta was slightly off the pace of his more experienced team-mate, but nevertheless backed him up strongly in 13th spot.

Initial objectives were achieved in the race itself with Panasonic Toyota Racing scoring its first two-car race finish of the season at the 2003 San Marino Grand Prix. Panis brought his TF103 home in ninth position, just short of a points-scoring result, whilst Da Matta passed the chequered flag in 12th place.

It was the Brazilian's third finish of 2003, whilst Panis's top-ten result marked the Frenchman's long overdue first classification of the year to date.

What the drivers said:

Cristiano da Matta: "I had a good first and second stint in the race, but unfortunately this track is difficult for overtaking, and after my second pit stop I was unable to get past the cars in front of me. This track is not a track that suits our car, so I feel that we did a reasonable job in the circumstances. I am much more confident driving the TF103 and I did the maximum I could today. We made big improvements to the car since Friday and it was not so bad in the race. Barcelona should be much better for us, and we have completed plenty of kilometres there in testing, so I think we should go well there in two weeks' time."

Olivier Panis: "The positive point about today's result is that we can celebrate our first two-car finish of the season. I did my absolute best today, pushing hard on every lap and it is nice to complete my first race for Toyota. The car was not too bad today and everything worked okay. The team has done a good job all weekend and I am pleased with the joint effort from every single person. Ninth is obviously a frustrating place to end a race, just out of the points, but the reliability is there again and that is very important for the next round. I am now looking ahead to the next race in Barcelona, where the car should perform much better and we should be in a position to go a step further and pick up some points."