Formula One news

Strong start for Toyota at home track

The Toyota Formula 1 team showed a stunning start of the weekend by topping the time sheets at the end of day 1 at the Fuji Speedway. Timo Glock completed the day's fastest lap in 1.18.383 and ended just ahead of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. His team mate Jarno Trulli finished in the top ten.

Timo Glock had never driven at the Fuji Speedway before and thus the German's performance was even more impressive. Speaking about his first day at the Fuji Speedway he said: "That was a good day. This was the first time I have driven at the Fuji Speedway so I had to learn the track this morning. It didn't take too long - two or three laps, but it's not an easy circuit. It's especially difficult to find the right compromise for the long high speed straight and the last sector which is very technical. But we sorted out a lot of stuff and we brought everything together for the second practice, which went well.

"I had a nice lap near the beginning of the session and it's great for the team to end up quickest on Friday here in Japan. So far I'm happy and it would be nice to keep the position like this for the whole weekend. That will obviously be difficult but hopefully the local fans will give us an extra boost."

Jarno Trulli was also positive about his day at Fuji. He said: "Today was a nice, smooth day. We tested several things in order to improve the car's performance. Timo and I carried out different programmes in order to collect data from all areas of the car and it went well. This is Toyota's home race so it is an important event for us. There is no extra pressure but we just really want to do well in front of our home fans. As a team we get a lot of support in Japan but the local people have also been big fans of me personally down the years. They always give me a great welcome and the support gives extra motivation for me to get a good result for them. We've been unlucky to miss out on points in recent races so I hope that turns around this weekend."

Jarno Trulli has a new helmet design this weekend after a competition run by Toyota's main sponsor Panasonic. The design, which was chosen by Jarno from a wide range of hopefuls, features a picture of Mount Fuji and is the work of 11-year-old Japanese schoolgirl You Terano. Glock's helmet also has new artwork here at Fuji Speedway, including images of the Japanese flag and other Japanese characters.

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