Trulli claims front row seat in Bahrain - Sat 02nd Apr 2005
Jarno Trulli underscored the Toyota team?s burgeoning potential with a fine run to second place on the overnight grid in Bahrain.
The Italian?s flawless lap left him just 0.145s shy of provisional pole and further boosted his reputation as a master of single-lap qualifying.
If Trulli can maintain his position tomorrow he will have qualified on the front row in each of the first three races ? a remarkable achievement considering that Toyota were down in the doldrums a few short months ago.
?Another excellent result, not only for myself but for the whole team, who have again performed magnificently,? praised Trulli.
?We have shown that if we perform consistently over the weekend, then we can be right up there when it counts.
?We have to keep up this pace tomorrow.?
Trulli reported that his TF105 was much better balanced than in yesterday?s practice, when excessive oversteer restricted him to sixth on the timesheets. But he is still chasing that elusive sweet spot that would enable him to challenge Renault.
?The car is much better but it is still not entirely [suited] to my driving style with some oversteer, which lost me some time over the lap,? he said.
Ralf Schumacher didn?t fare nearly as well as his team-mate and was left to rue a costly braking error after clocking only the 11th best time.
It was a missed opportunity for the German, who was second quickest in the final free practice period this morning.
?That was a very disappointing qualifying session,? lamented Ralf. ?I lost almost a second due to oversteer at the entry to Turn 8 on my qualifying lap.
?The car is quick here and the Michelin tyres are working well, so it is somewhat frustrating not to have been able to convert our competitiveness from this morning.?
Technical director Mike Gascoyne felt that, all in all, the team had left some crumbs on the table.
?In the end it was a disappointing qualifying session, despite the fact that we have placed one of our TF105s on the provisional front row,? he said.
?Ralf made a mistake and lost a lot of time, which will make things difficult tomorrow. We have to look at moving him up the grid and into the top 10.
?Jarno did a reasonably good lap, but felt he could have gained a couple of tenths.
?Yet again we have a car in second position, but the team is now looking to achieve more than that.
?Tomorrow, we have to consolidate Jarno?s starting position and aim to score at least our second podium.?
