Zoom Toyota expecting to be in good form again this week-end

Toyota Racing heads to the Monaco Grand Prix following the disappointment of this year's Spanish round, where the last set of upgrades to the TF109 did not deliver as expected. With great performances and podium finishes appearing on their 2009 tally, the Cologne-based team expected to continue the trend in Barcelona - but such did not happen.

A momentary delay caused both cars to lose ground at the race start, with Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock losing positions. Shortly thereafter, Trulli's race was quickly terminated by an unfortunate slide off the track as he swerved to avoid contact at Turn Two, only to come back sideways into the oncoming pack. The resulting four-car accident and debris across the track brought out the Safety Car.

Glock made his way through the debris field and pushed on but was unable to overtake Nico Rosberg's Williams car, in addition to sensing something wrong with his Toyota's setup. With Trulli out of the picture and Glock taking tenth place, it was a zero points score for Toyota at a race where the team and its drivers expected much more.

"Unfortunately the Spanish Grand Prix didn't go according to plan due to the problems on the first lap and it was very frustrating to miss the points for the first time this season," Glock said.

Although Trulli's mishap had nothing to do with his Toyota's performances, the incident was simply part of an already troublesome week-end for the team: "Obviously the race in Spain was one to forget, but anyway I prefer to look forwards, not back, so I'm ready to fight hard again this weekend. I'm hoping for a strong result."

With this week-end's Monaco Grand Prix, Toyota is expecting to make its way back among the top five once more thanks to a combination of driver experience and the confidence the team has in the TF109's abilities on a truly atypical circuit.

The layout within the streets of Monte Carlo provides one of the most difficult challenges of the calendar for both man and machine, as any error upon the narrow venue can easily end with a crash against the barriers. In addition, the Principality's 18-corner circuit forces an average 4,000 gear changes per race, making reliability a crucial factor as well at F1's most glamorous destination.

Having won here back in 2004, Jarno Trulli knows the name of the game: "Monaco is one of my favourite tracks in Formula 1; it is so challenging and the driver can really make a difference so this suits me well."

"It is always special to go to Monaco because the atmosphere is different to any other race and the circuit is unique," the Italian veteran continued. "I know it's slow in terms of average speed but when you are driving it feels really fast as the barriers are so close. This means you have to be completely concentrated otherwise a small mistake can put you in the wall."

"I love the challenge of Monaco and I am usually really strong there, even if sometimes I've had a bit of bad luck and not had the results I deserved. Our car has been competitive all year but you can't compare Monaco to other circuits so you can never be sure what to expect," he pointed out.

Timo Glock finished out of the points at the conclusion of last year's rainy edition, but the German is counting on his pre-F1 experience to make a difference at this unique urban track.

"I've had some strong performances in GP2 at Monaco and I know you have to be completely focused because it is so easy to make a mistake and ruin your race," he began. "It will be important to qualify well, as it always is in Monaco, because it's virtually impossible to overtake in the race unless the guy in front of you has a problem."

"It will be interesting to experience how this season's car feels around Monaco because we have less downforce but more grip from the slick tyres," Glock explained. "Generally our car has felt pretty good this season so there's no reason why we can't be competitive in Monaco."

However, the technical regulations which came into effect this year provide for a lesser amount of downforce, which brings an extra twist to the particular Monaco mix.

"In the past we have made major changes to the wings as well as adding flaps and winglets where possible to generate extra downforce. But this year things are a little bit different because the regulations have restricted what we can do to generate downforce, meaning we have quite a bit less this season," explained Pascal Vasselon, Toyota's Senior General Manager Chassis.

"Therefore we have been chasing downforce at almost all tracks so Monaco is no longer unique in requiring us to do this," the Frenchman added.

"We know the TF109 is fundamentally a very competitive car," Vasselon stated. "So we are looking forward to a strong weekend."

Daniel BASTIEN
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