Toyota Formula 1 Team

[RedLiner]

2ND PRACTICE- MELB

P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Times Ave/Gaps

1. 36 DAVIDSON Honda M 1'26"822 219.884 Km/h

2. 35 WURZ Williams Cosworth B 1'26"832 + 0'00"010

3. 38 KUBICA BMW Sauber M 1'27"200 + 0'00"378

4. 12 BUTTON Honda M 1'27"213 + 0'00"391

5. 1 ALONSO Renault M 1'27"443 + 0'00"621

6. 5 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'27"658 + 0'00"836

7. 3 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'27"773 + 0'00"951

8. 11 BARRICHELLO Honda M 1'28"075 + 0'01"253

9. 4 MONTOYA McLaren Mercedes M 1'28"200 + 0'01"378

10. 6 MASSA Ferrari B 1'28"227 + 0'01"405

11. 2 FISICHELLA Renault M 1'28"280 + 0'01"458

12. 17 VILLENEUVE BMW Sauber M 1'28"440 + 0'01"618

13. 14 COULTHARD RedBull Ferrari M 1'28"531 + 0'01"709

14. 9 WEBBER Williams Cosworth B 1'28"860 + 0'02"038

15. 16 HEIDFELD BMW Sauber M 1'29"053 + 0'02"231

16. 8 TRULLI Toyota B 1'29"138 + 0'02"316

17. 21 SPEED Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1'29"196 + 0'02"374

18. 7 R.SCHUMACHER Toyota B 1'29"379 + 0'02"557

19. 18 MONTEIRO Midland Toyota B 1'29"713 + 0'02"891

20. 37 DOORNBOS RedBull Cosworth M 1'29"876 + 0'03"054

21. 15 KLIEN RedBull Ferrari M 1'29"879 + 0'03"057

22. 10 ROSBERG Williams Cosworth B 1'29"933 + 0'03"111

23. 40 JANI Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1'30"686 + 0'03"864

24. 20 LIUZZI Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1'30"734 + 0'03"912

25. 19 ALBERS Midland Toyota B 1'30"830 + 0'04"008

26. 39 WINKELHOCK Midland Toyota B 1'31"260 + 0'04"438

27. 22 SATO S. Aguri F1 Honda B 1'32"556 + 0'05"734

28. 23 IDE S. Aguri F1 Honda B 1'34"224 + 0'07"402

[RedLiner]

Just watching the early stages of the GP.....its rainging in melbourne and there is wind..

it reminds me of last year when i was down there....

i copped the biggest sunburn on the first day....then on saturday it was rainging really hard and the wind was something i have never seen before.....i totally got blown away and drenched in the stand....

i think these conditions will shuffle the grid up abit in qualifying....

[perthcamry]

Yes indeed I was there and amazing to see M. Schumacher come out in dry tyres and the rain come down for the qualifying lap half way through. If he was out 1 min earlier a different story.

[RedLiner]

Good to see Toyota has improved their performance in qualifying.

[ZEEROLLA]

WOOHOO!! MY MAN IS ON POLE!! 2 POINTS TO ME! :D :D

Good job by Toyota and Mark Webber, and we now have 6 teams in the fight! BMW Sauber was a definite surprise package being so quick but this qualifying system is really awesome, edge of seat stuff! Now Jenson just needs to win, easier said than done.

Edited April 1, 2006 by ZEEROLLA

[DHC09]

HAHA 2pts for me too :D :D

Yeah toyota suddenly looks pretty good :D

Hope they'll get a load of pts

[blue_rolla]

well schumacher just crashed - unlucky for him...

toyota is in 3rd place i think i just heard them say... woot :)

[blue_rolla]

3rd!!! Woo!!! Go Toyota!

BUT HOW BAD WAS BUTTON'S FINISH?!?! he must be spewing!! last corner his car just starts spitting out flames!

all in all a good race hey... bill you gotta tell us how it was on the start line!

[RedLiner]

Sucked in hard to honda...

what a race....i absolutley loved it.....

Toyota is back.

[DHC09]

RALF IS THE MAN!!!

Too bad for Trulli.. got taken out by bloody DC (haha he lost out to Scott Speed ).. otherwise there wud deff be more pts for Toyota :D

Looks like the new bridgestone tires are working wonders for toyota so far :D

PS: woohoo.. im leading in the mini-league :P :D

[ZEEROLLA]

What a drama filled grand prix!!! :o Firstly Honda got major issues with front tyres, actually all Michelin runners had but Honda was running a softer tyre compared to the rest and Jenson said there was absolutely no temperature and grip on the fronts so some major issue there, almost like what Toyota's problem was. Mark Webber was looking so fast too leading the race at one stage but in the end both Williams got DNFs yet again, Jenson in his Pole seating Honda went from Hero to Zero and blew up at the last corner of the last lap, both Ferraris, 1 Toyota, 1 Red bull, 1 Williams and 1 Torro Rosso crashed out. Ralph Scumacher must be the luckiest driver today, finishing 3rd even with a drive thru penalty but that's racing.

[CORZZA]

well done to ralph and toyota in 3rd place!

[ZEEROLLA]

3rd!!! Woo!!! Go Toyota!

BUT HOW BAD WAS BUTTON'S FINISH?!?! he must be spewing!! last corner his car just starts spitting out flames!

all in all a good race hey... bill you gotta tell us how it was on the start line!

Yeh man, really bad luck for JB, it happened to him last year at Australia too, must be jinxed! He again qualified very well last year and was 2nd in the race with a podium in sight with only a few laps to go when he picked up a left hand ripple strip, lost control and drove into a wall!! :( I had really high hopes he could break the duck this year especially after qualifying 1st and having softer compound tyres, not to mention Anthony Davidson had been quickest for Honda in the 2 practice sessions. Oh well thats racing i guess, i believe there were many disappointed racers too like Webber.

Edited April 2, 2006 by ZEEROLLA

[DHC09]

Heres something interesting for u Honda fans:

Symonds backs Honda DNF tactics

Sunday, 02, April, 2006, 11:51

Renault’s engineering chief Pat Symonds has backed the decision by the rival Honda team to deliberately retire Jenson’s Button’s stricken car from the Australian Grand Prix.

Button was running in fifth place when his engine suddenly let go two corners from the finish.

But rather than attempting to coast across the finish line and salvage some points, Button pulled off onto the grass on the instructions of race engineer Andrew Shovlin.

The reason for the call, which may have cost Button three points, was to avoid incurring a 10-place grid penalty for the engine change that will be necessary before the San Marino Grand Prix.

The FIA regulations allow penalty-free engine changes when the failure has caused a driver’s retirement from a grand prix.

“That’s smart thinking,” said Symonds.

“I would have done the same thing.”

Fry believes it was worth sacrificing the points in order to give Button a chance of winning at Imola, where he took his first career pole in 2004 and has gone well in recent years.

Fry revealed that the retirement was tactical when speaking to ITV Sport’s Ted Kravitz but emphasized that it was a split-second decision.

“We need to look at the pros and cons,” he said. “It was a quick call by the race engineer and we need to see if it was right later.”

[blue_rolla]

talk about quick thinking!

[RedLiner]

ON THE BALL....

BUT HONDA HAS CRAP RACE PACE ANYWAY..WONT MAKE A DIFFERENCE

[DHC09]

HAHAH Scott Speed lost his maiden pt to DC cause he overtook him during yellow flags (therefore 25sec penalty)

And the funnist part was he also coped a $5000 fine for using abusive language towards DC during the stewards hearing

Americans.....*sigh*

[RedLiner]

Ralf might lose podium for overtaking under yellow flags.

[evo]

somehow i don't think that'll happen.

race notes for heidfeld (bmw.sauber)

"I then braked too late for Turn 6 because the front tyres were still not up to temperature, and as I ran wide he was able to pass me. So was Ralf, within metres of yellow flags. My compliments to the pit crew, who did a fabulous job."

fair call, but u saw what alonso did with button on the first restart. amazing stuff. overtook on the green flag just metres past the start/finish as allowed by the rules.

[DHC09]

yeah dun think ralf will lose 3rd... plus the results are already offical

on another note Ralf was voted driver of the day by the itv crew :D :D good stuff

so it looks like toyota can be competive in cold weather now with these really soft tires :)

It'll be good for most of the euro races and with more testing b4 the next race.. we SUD be more competitive

and trulli still needs to get on the pts (poor guy had the flu and got taken out by the hothead DC :( )

IF TOYOTA WINS THIS YR... TO CELEBRATE I"LL JOIN SILVERMEMBER :D :D :D

[blue_rolla]

you should do it anyway

lol nah regardless lets hope we win! it will be a happy day :)

[DHC09]

you should do it anyway

lol nah regardless lets hope we win! it will be a happy day :)

haha... its more special if i join on their maiden win :P :D

[evo]

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=35502

Gascoyne leaves Toyota

Tuesday, 04, April, 2006, 20:47

Mike Gascoyne has left his post as technical director for the Toyota Formula 1 team.

The Englishman’s exit is thought to be part of a major shake-up in the management and technical departments at the team, according to sources close to ITV-F1.com.

The nature of Gascoyne’s departure remains undisclosed.

He is believed to have been at odds with some of Toyota’s more senior decision-makers and was not expected to remain with the team beyond the end of his contract, which would have ended this year anyway.

But the big-budget Cologne-based squad's shown poor form in 2006, relieved only by Ralf Schumacher’s third place in last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, can not have helped matters.

When asked for a quote by grandprix.com (which broke the story on Tuesday) Gascoyne would not comment.

Toyota was also unavailable to make a statement on the story.

It is unclear what the future holds for Gascoyne who remained UK-based throughout his tenure with the Japanese manufacturer.

But after a successful career that has seen him turn around the fortunes of Jordan, Renault and to a lesser extent Toyota in the last ten years, Gascoyne, who has never overseen a world championship-winning campaign will likely consider F1 unfinished business.

[RedLiner]

thats shocking news...

great shame...

[DHC09]

Damn... well that came out of nowhere... :(

Hope its just "rumours" but it doesnt look v.good