TRDfan
09-16-04, 07:47 AM
From my morning e-mail.......
Jarno Trulli completes Toyota's 2005 driver line-up
16 September 2004
The Panasonic Toyota Racing team has today confirmed that Jarno Trulli
will join the team as a race driver from 2005. The Italian driver
signed a two-year contract on Tuesday 14 September at Toyota Motorsport's
headquarters in Cologne, which will see him partner German driver Ralf
Schumacher from next season.
Trulli will drive a Toyota F1 car for the first time at the Silverstone
Circuit in Britain today.
Jarno Trulli is one of only four drivers to have won a Grand Prix in
2004, having dominated the Monaco GP to take his debut race victory. In
his eight seasons in Formula 1, Jarno has made four trips to the podium
and scored two pole positions.
Toyota currently plans for Ricardo Zonta to drive the third car in
Friday free practice sessions, as well as undertaking extensive test duties
alongside Olivier Panis in 2005.
Ryan Briscoe will still be contracted to Toyota in 2005, but will not
be a regular Panasonic Toyota Racing race or test driver. He will,
however, continue to receive support from the team as he looks to find a
race seat for next year.
Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal
"It is no secret that we have been speaking with Jarno Trulli for some
time about the possibility for him to join Panasonic Toyota Racing, but
contrary to recent reports, we have only finalised contractual details
this week. Jarno has really shown his maturity and all-round talent
this season, both in qualifying and in races, and we believe that he will
be the perfect team-mate to Ralf at Toyota from next season. On that
note, I would like to set the record straight early and stress that there
are no driver orders at Toyota; Ralf and Jarno will have equal number
one status with us. We are also looking forward to Ricardo staying with
the team in 2005 as our Friday driver at races. Along with Olivier,
Ricardo has demonstrated a strong commitment and motivation to the team
over the last two years. I firmly believe that both Olivier and Ricardo
will excel in test and development roles with Toyota. With Ralf, Jarno,
Olivier and Ricardo, I think that Panasonic Toyota Racing will h!
ave one of the strongest driver line-ups in Formula 1 for next
season."
Jarno Trulli completes Toyota's 2005 driver line-up
16 September 2004
The Panasonic Toyota Racing team has today confirmed that Jarno Trulli
will join the team as a race driver from 2005. The Italian driver
signed a two-year contract on Tuesday 14 September at Toyota Motorsport's
headquarters in Cologne, which will see him partner German driver Ralf
Schumacher from next season.
Trulli will drive a Toyota F1 car for the first time at the Silverstone
Circuit in Britain today.
Jarno Trulli is one of only four drivers to have won a Grand Prix in
2004, having dominated the Monaco GP to take his debut race victory. In
his eight seasons in Formula 1, Jarno has made four trips to the podium
and scored two pole positions.
Toyota currently plans for Ricardo Zonta to drive the third car in
Friday free practice sessions, as well as undertaking extensive test duties
alongside Olivier Panis in 2005.
Ryan Briscoe will still be contracted to Toyota in 2005, but will not
be a regular Panasonic Toyota Racing race or test driver. He will,
however, continue to receive support from the team as he looks to find a
race seat for next year.
Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal
"It is no secret that we have been speaking with Jarno Trulli for some
time about the possibility for him to join Panasonic Toyota Racing, but
contrary to recent reports, we have only finalised contractual details
this week. Jarno has really shown his maturity and all-round talent
this season, both in qualifying and in races, and we believe that he will
be the perfect team-mate to Ralf at Toyota from next season. On that
note, I would like to set the record straight early and stress that there
are no driver orders at Toyota; Ralf and Jarno will have equal number
one status with us. We are also looking forward to Ricardo staying with
the team in 2005 as our Friday driver at races. Along with Olivier,
Ricardo has demonstrated a strong commitment and motivation to the team
over the last two years. I firmly believe that both Olivier and Ricardo
will excel in test and development roles with Toyota. With Ralf, Jarno,
Olivier and Ricardo, I think that Panasonic Toyota Racing will h!
ave one of the strongest driver line-ups in Formula 1 for next
season."