Along with regular driver Jarno Trulli, the two Panasonic Toyota Racing test drivers Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta were in action at the Valencia circuit this past week, clocking up a total of 533 laps between, that amounts to a whopping 1712 kms of testing mileage on the new TF105.
Olivier Panis completed almost 1100 of those kilometres during his debut with the team’s 2005 charger and his first impressions were very favourable.
”What I felt most when I went out on the first day with the new TF105 was that the car was really well connected,” he said. “Of course we need to keep going and improving, and wait and see how things work with the new aero package. But I'm quite positive about the base we have compared to what we've been used to with the TF104B.”
A lot has been mentioned in regard to the cool and windy weather conditions present this week making it hard to get a lot of work accomplished, however the weather had other consequences as well with the Frenchman actually catching cold…
“I've been mainly working on tyres, but the problem was that the two first days were so windy, it made it very difficult to understand what was happening with the car,” he said. “Thursday was a better day and we did a lot of laps. It was still very cold, which made it difficult to warm up the tyres, but it was not so windy so the car reacted better. On Friday I was suffering from a slight cold, but we still put in some long runs before Jarno took my car for the last couple of runs.”
Fellow tester Ricardo Zonta managed over 616 kms during his first test with the new car and he explained the differences between the TF104 and the TF105….
“The new technical rules, and especially the aerodynamic restrictions, affect the new car mainly in the slow corners, where more downforce is beneficial. The car slides a lot more and it is more demanding to drive. That is not a reflection on the TF105, but on the rules that now govern aerodynamics.”
In the two days he spent testing the new car he came to the conclusion that the Cologne based squad are definitely working in the right direction…
“For my first time in the TF105, I am pleased with the two days of running,” he said. “The track conditions improved on Wednesday and we were able to achieve a good number of laps, working on traction control tuning and Michelin tyres. At the end, our lap times compared to the other 2005-spec cars on track were pretty close, so we are definitely heading in the right direction.”
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