Panasonic Toyota Racing travels to another of Formula 1's most historic venues for the Italian Grand Prix this weekend at Monza. The track is high speed and was a venue on the original World Championship calendar, both attributes it shares with Spa-Francorchamps, host of the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks ago. The Italian Grand Prix is not only hallowed ground for Formula 1; it is also home turf for Jarno Trulli whose best finish at Monza was the fourth place he secured in 2002. Timo Glock has happy memories of the track having won and finished third in the two GP2 races there in 2007. Toyota's Monza highlights include fifth and sixth place finishes in 2005 while the team has qualified in the top 10 on five of its seven visits. Monza is characterised by long straights and tight chicanes, so the team will bring a similar low-downforce aerodynamic package as used at Spa with some adjustments. After regaining its qualifying form in Spa, the team is aiming for a return to the points this weekend.
Jarno Trulli - Car 9
"It is always a great occasion for me to be racing in front of the Italian fans and I really love the atmosphere at Monza. Of course, this is a home race for me so I have a lot of supporters in the grandstands and I really enjoy competing in front of such passionate fans. It would mean a lot to me to achieve a strong result in this race and I will be doing everything I can to do that. It was very encouraging in Belgium to start on the front row and hopefully this is a sign that we are now able to get the full potential out of the car in qualifying. I was unlucky in the race but I enjoyed the chance to fight at the front and I hope to be able to do that again in Italy. Our car looked quite strong at Spa and there will be a few changes for this weekend too; I am sure the competition will be very tight but we have the chance to get back in the points. Monza would be the perfect place to return to form so I am ready for the challenge."
Timo Glock - Car 10
"Monza is all about speed but my memories of the track are of the rain last year because the whole weekend was wet. We got it right in qualifying and looked really strong for the race, but the conditions changed at the worst possible time so we missed the podium. The atmosphere is always incredible at Monza and it is a special experience to race there in front of such passionate fans. Every Formula 1 driver loves driving fast so Monza is obviously a fun place to race because it is all long straights broken up by chicanes, and the Lesmo corners are really exciting. Our car was competitive in Spa so it was a pity things didn't go well in the race, although it was a promising sign to see how well we qualified. Our target is again to be both in the top eight on Saturday because this gives us the best chance of getting the kind of result our car is capable of. I'm raring to go for this weekend and I'm determined to give the team a result to celebrate."
Pascal Vasselon - Senior General Manager Chassis
"In the past we always prepared a complete specific aerodynamic package for Monza but it is a little different this year. Considering the reduced downforce levels, as well as their proximity on the calendar, we will use a similar package to Spa because these are now the only two tracks requiring significantly reduced drag compared to our baseline configuration. As Monza remains the most demanding in terms of top speed we will have updates to our front and rear wings and we expect to be competitive again. But Monza is different to Spa because of the chicanes, which generate greater braking energy and require good braking stability. We will have a heavy-duty brake configuration with improved cooling so that the excessive wear Jarno suffered in the race at Spa should not be repeated. Our package performed well in Belgium and we were unfortunate that other circumstances prevented us from fighting for the podium. But that's what racing is about and we will fight hard again this weekend."
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