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jarno trulli uk fan club |
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12th October 2003 japanese gp. race. Weather:
overcast and humid
Temperature:
ambient, 22°C; track, 25°C Jarno made a storming start from the back of
the grid, up to 13th place by the end of the first lap. Fernando was
third behind Montoya and Barrichello, having beaten the Toyotas to the first
corner. On lap 3, following closely behind Jarno, Ralf Schumacher spun
himself to the back of the field again. A few laps later, Michael Schumacher
got rather too close to Takuma Sato’s rear, and lost his front wing when he
made contact. Jarno passed Wilson and Webber and was now up to 10th.
On lap 9, race leader Montoya began to slow down and cruise around the track,
elevating Alonso to second. Montoya coasted all the way to the pits with his
sick car and retired into oblivion with a hydraulics problem. At about the
same time, the sister Williams, in Ralf’s hands, spun again after nudging
Heidfeld’s Sauber. Seems Ralf fancied a game of snakes and ladders this
afternoon (or rather, early morning in England)…..up and down the field all
day. On lap 11, da Matta was the first in for the round of pit stops.
Frentzen’s engine unfortunately blew on what is, at the moment, his last
Grand Prix. Jarno pitted on lap 11, while Alonso ran for one more lap before
his stop. At this time, championship contender Michael Schumacher was running
16th and his most direct competitor for the WDC, Kimi Raikkonen,
was in second place. This soon changed as Barrichello and Coulthard (running
one place ahead of his team mate) also pitted, leaving Kimi leading the race.
The Finn had to pit himself one lap later, leaving Jenson Button in charge
for the second race running. Then it was Sato’s and Heidfeld’s turn to come
in. Meanwhile, Jarno was in ninth place. Button was next to refuel and change
tyres on lap 17, running order now Barrichello, Alonso, Coulthard, Raikkonen,
da Matta, Button, Panis, Webber, Trulli. Jarno moved up to ninth, when
Alonso’s engine quietly expired. Fernando was not a happy bunny, going by the
body language. But it wasn’t all bad because this took Jarno to eighth place.
On lap 22, Mark, Michael and Ralf all pitted, leaving Jarno 7th
and Kimi 3rd. The next batch to stop (Rubens, DC, Raikkonen)
brought Jarno up to 5th. Jarno stopped himself on lap 31, at the
same time as Sato, but Jarno got out ahead of the new BAR driver. Michael
Schumacher was P11 before Raikkonen and Button also pitted. On lap 32,
Fisichella’s car failure, in his last race for Jordan, was completely ignored
by the TV director! Around lap 38, Michael pitted and rejoined in 10th
place. After Ralf also made another stop, he decided to have a go at his
brother, who was behind da Matta. Under pressure from Ralf, while trying to
defend his position Michael locked his brakes to avoid hitting the Toyota.
Ralf could not avoid hitting the rear of the Ferrari and came off worst, with
yet another trip across the Astroturf of the old chicane, before pitting for
a new nose. Michael continued in 8th position. Coulthard had been
quicker than Raikkonen all race. When Barrichello made his stop on lap 40,
Coulthard led the race, and when Rubens came out found himself in a McLaren
sandwich with Raikkonen behind. Of course, to have a chance at the WDC,
Raikkonen had to win the race but was currently in third place. But DC had to
pit, and when he returned to the track, the McLarens had mysteriously swapped
places. With 5 laps to go, the running order was Barrichello, Raikkonen,
Coulthard, Button, Trulli, Sato, da Matta, M. Schumacher. Jarno was pushing
Button for fourth place, but played safe in the end, and was fifth, in a race
he started from the back. Barrichello won the race, but still seemed to take
a back seat to Michael, as Michael claimed his sixth World Drivers’
Championship, and Ferrari won the Constructors’ Championship for the fifth
consecutive time, a feat never achieved before. As for Renault F1, they
finish the season in a clear and well deserved fourth place in the
Constructors’ Championship with 88 points. Fernando is 6th in the
WDC, thanks to his early season results, and Jarno is 8th, his
fifth place today taking him to 33 points, a career best, even allowing for
the new rules. Bravo, Jarno! Top 8 in this race: Barrichello, Raikkonen,
Coulthard, Button, Trulli, Sato, da Matta, M. Schumacher. Ralf Schumacher
finished in 12th place, between the two Jaguars. Renault F1 Press Release Jarno Trulli
R23B-05 Fernando Alonso
R23B-06 Disappointment
and delight in equal measure for the Renault F1 Team following the season’s
final race in Suzuka. After a dramatic race, Jarno Trulli finished fifth
having started nineteenth, while Fernando Alonso was forced to retire from
second position on lap 17 after an engine failure. After encountering rain
during Saturday’s second qualifying session, Jarno Trulli was forced to start
today’s race from nineteenth position. A fantastic start saw him jump to
thirteenth by the end of the first lap, and he had climbed as high as ninth
by the time of his first stop on lap 11. Running a two-stop strategy, he climbed
to fifth position but, after encountering traffic on the out-lap following
his second stop, was unable to leapfrog Jenson Button ahead of him in fourth.
Fernando Alonso started today’s race from fifth, and jumped into third at the
start. After the retirement of Juan Pablo Montoya, he lay second behind
eventual winner Rubens Barrichello, and made a longer first pit stop in order
to open up the possibility of converting to a two-stop strategy. However, an
engine failure ended his hopes of a possible race win on lap 17. Jarno
Trulli, 5th position: “A fantastic race for me: we didn’t expect to score
points after starting at the back, and if it hadn’t been for the traffic
after my second stop, I could have finished fourth. I want to thank the team,
who gave me a strong car all weekend. The real damage was done on Saturday,
when I could have got pole if it hadn’t rained. We proved during the race
that we were quick enough to fight at the front.” Fernando
Alonso, retired, lap 17 “It’s
a big disappointment to retire: I was fighting for the victory, and we were
probably going to make one less stop than Rubens. We have had a great season,
but the opportunity was there to win at the last race, and it’s not a nice
feeling to lose it.” Flavio
Briatore, Managing Director “The
results don’t show it fully, but the team did a very good job this weekend.
Both drivers put in excellent performances, especially Jarno from the back of
the grid, and it was frustrating to see Fernando retire. It is a shame to end
the season like this, but it has been a fantastic year for Renault and the
whole team. The winter will be spent working hard, and we should be even
stronger in Melbourne next March.” Pat
Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering “A
mixed final race for us. Jarno drove an absolutely superb race today and
starting from nineteenth, to finish fifth in a race with few retirements is
remarkable; indeed, were it not for bad luck with traffic, it could have been
fourth. Fernando’s early laps were extremely impressive, and he was able to
hold on to Barrichello who we knew was on three stops. We slightly extended
the second stint in order to give the possibility of converting to two stops,
and beating the Ferrari this way. Unfortunately, an engine problem intervened
and didn’t allow us to reap the benefits of
this. We also congratulate Michael and Ferrari: this has been a fitting end
to a great season.” ITV Watch: ITV did manage to show the race
live, as contracted, although Rosenthal and Jardine were in a London studio. Of
course, Rosenthal also fronted some of the rugby world cup. Jack of all
trades and master of none, when it comes to detailed knowledge of the sport.
Brundle and Allan, Goodman and Kravitz were all in Japan though. A distinct
lack of Renault interviews this weekend, apart from Allan McNish, of course.
They didn’t even add any to their recorded race showing in the afternoon (UK
time), although they dropped the press conferences in favour of other driver
interviews. But WOW!!!……as James Allen would say! At least twice our James
said that Jarno was “tremendous” today! Maybe JA was just in a good mood as
his hero is 6 times World Champion today. The Michael and Ferrari ‘love fest’
at the end of both programmes was significant. One teensy weensy error: B &
A told us that Jarno and Ralf were starting from the pit lane when they were
quite clearly on the grid. Even after the 2 cars had quite clearly driven
round on the parade lap, we were still told they were not there! It took a
few laps of the race before the penny dropped. 11th October 2003 japanese gp. saturday qualifying. Weather: light rain, getting heavier during
the session Temperature:
ambient, 22°C; track, 25°C
Rain
had a big hand in settling the grid for the Japanese GP. After an overcast
morning, it began to rain half way through the session and got worse as the
fast guys prepared to do their laps. Barrichello went quickest, beating
Montoya into second place, two thirds of the way through the session. Then
the track got wetter and the cars got slower. Fernando Alonso got his lap in
during light drizzle and it was good enough for fifth, very lucky in the
circumstances. By the time Michael Schumacher came out third from last, the
car was sliding around dramatically and his time was only good enough for 14th.
Championship contender Kimi Raikkonen’s eighth place starts to look good!
Ralf Schumacher, second from last, actually spun and decided to cut his
losses and abort the lap. Jarno was already out on dry tyres, but also
decided to save the car and did not even start his flying lap. Ralf and Jarno
will start from the back for the race. Top 6: Barrichello, Montoya, da Matta,
Panis, Alonso, Webber. Renault F1 Press Release Jarno Trulli R23B-05 Fernando Alonso R23B-06 S1: 31.841 S2:
41.897 S3: 19.306 The Renault F1 Team was left empty-handed and
disappointed after this afternoon’s second qualifying session for the
Japanese Grand Prix. The R23B’s have been fast since the start of the
weekend, but were unable to demonstrate their full potential during
qualifying owing to rain which fell at Suzuka. Fernando Alonso was the
fifteenth driver to go out in qualifying, and had to contend with light rain
which began on his warm-up lap. In spite of changeable grip levels, though,
he was able to claim fifth place. After setting the fastest time yesterday,
Jarno Trulli started last this afternoon, by which time the circuit was fully
wet. With the conditions costing him a significant amount of time, the team
decided to call him into the pits in order to save fuel for the race. Fernando Alonso, 5th,
1:33.044: “I was a little bit unfortunate today. It
started raining just as I went out, and even though the rain wasn’t
particularly heavy, it cost me a few tenths. I was pushing just as hard as in
dry conditions, but the time wasn’t there at the end of the lap: there wasn’t
as much grip, especially under acceleration. Even so, the car is well
balanced and I am in a good position for tomorrow.” Jarno Trulli, no time: “What can you say about that?
Every race, I am fighting for my first pole position, and this weekend I was
on course to get it. We worked hard this morning, and I was very competitive,
even if the times didn’t necessarily make it look that way. Then, the rain
came and destroyed my chances. Tomorrow’s race will be tough, all the more so
because it is very difficult to overtake here.” Pat Symonds, Executive Director of
Engineering “After such a promising start to the weekend,
today’s qualifying result is bitterly disappointing. However, in spite of a
lap affected by the onset of rain, Fernando’s fifth place, while not
reflecting the full potential of the car, still gives us a real chance for
tomorrow. What can I say for Jarno? He must be the unluckiest man in Formula
1: in the space of twenty-four hours, he has gone from being the fastest man
out there to last on the grid, through no fault of his own. We decided it was
not even worth doing the timed lap, and called him in to save fuel for the
race.” Denis Chevrier, Engine Operations Manager “Fernando’s fifth place is an encouraging
position from which to start tomorrow, and at least shows that the rain did
not completely ruin our afternoon. However, given the times set by the people
on the front row, we can only regret that circumstances prevented Jarno from
doing a timed lap: he had the potential to take pole. Fate denied him a real
opportunity to shine this afternoon.” 11th October 2003 japanese gp. saturday practice A
crash for Raikkonen in the first practice session meant that DC had to sacrifice
his car for the cause! As spare cars are not allowed until qualifying, DC
gave his race car to Kimi who will use it for the rest of the weekend, DC
using the spare. Ralf Schumacher was fastest in the first session, followed
by brother Michael. The Renaults were 10th (Trulli) and 11th.
Top 6: R. Schumacher, M. Schumacher, Barrichello, Montoya, Heidfeld, da
Matta, Wilson. Ralf
was also quickest in the second session just ahead of his team mate, this
time. Fernando Alonso’s engine expired close to the end of the session and
Montoya and Webber had a narrow escape as they both slid off on the
subsequent oil. Fernando finished eighth fastest, Jarno was fourth. Top 6: R.
Schumacher, Montoya, M. Schumacher, Trulli, Barrichello, Raikkonen. 10th October 2003 japanese gp. friday qualifying. Weather: hot but overcast, with sunny spells Temperature: ambient: 23-24°C ; track:
30-31°C Jarno put in another blinding performance
this morning to take provisional ‘pole’ once again. Fernando only managed sixth (see quote). Takuma Sato, replacing
Jacques Villeneuve who walked out on the BAR team earlier in the week,
outqualified his team mate Jenson Button by 5 places. Top 6: Trulli, R.
Schumacher, M. Schumacher, Coulthard, Raikkonen, Alonso. Renault F1 Press Release Jarno Trulli R23B-05 S1: 30.790 S2:
40.581 S3: 18.910 Fernando Alonso R23B-06 S1: 30.818 S2:
40.656 S3: 19.150 The Renault F1 Team finished today’s first
qualifying session at Suzuka in first and sixth positions ahead of Sunday’s Japanese
Grand Prix. A productive morning’s work on the R23B was translated into a
strong afternoon performance and Jarno Trulli’s third provisional pole
position in four races. Fernando Alonso adopted a more cautious approach, but
claimed sixth spot nonetheless. Jarno’s time is a lap record for Suzuka. Jarno Trulli, 1st,
1:30.281 “The car has been well balanced
ever since we started running and, even though I had some technical problems this
morning, we have been quick throughout. I managed to get in a clean,
mistake-free lap and I now have to look to repeat that performance tomorrow:
the new rules make things more difficult, but after having taken three Friday
‘poles’ this year, I would like to get one on Saturday as well before the end
of the season. If we manage that, we will be in a very strong position for
the race.” Fernando Alonso, 6th,
1:30.624 “I did a normal lap, but within my limits:
the day for taking risks is tomorrow. (Huh? - Editor) Our package is
working well here and as Jarno showed today, we are very competitive. I feel
confident for the rest of the weekend.” Pat Symonds, Executive Director of
Engineering “Jarno’s time justifies the confidence we had
in our performance here. Fernando was a little more cautious but there is no
doubt that both drivers can be highly competitive this weekend. The balance
of the cars is quite good, and we looked quick in all circumstances,
including our high fuel runs this morning.” Denis Chevrier, Engine Operations Manager “Naturally, we are very pleased with our
performance this afternoon, and it demonstrates that the problems we
experienced this morning didn’t handicap our performance. After the results
of first qualifying, we can justifiably hope to challenge strongly tomorrow.
We now need to continue our work in order to put all the elements in place
that will allow us to perform well on Sunday.” ITV
Watch: the ITV recorded programme was shown
until after midnight on Saturday morning, so no report available until almost
24 hours later. This is what we have to put up with in the U.K. But ITV have
replaced all the daytime morning shows (from 10am to 1.40 pm) with the Rugby
Union World Cup opening ceremony and match. Go figure! Seeing the programme
finally, it seems that Martin Brundle may be a secret Trulli fan these
days……he has been very complementary about Jarno’s ability in qualifying
lately, and now JT is a potential race winner in his view. That’s a turn
around and a pleasant surprise! 10th
October 2003 japanese gp. friday practice. There seems to be a
chicane problem at the newly revamped Suzuka: if drivers pick the wrong
braking point, they can find themselves taking the wrong one! Michael
Schumacher, Panis and Frentzen all took the excursion route during the
session. Jarno was last out of the garage, but soon broke the 1:32 barrier to
top the times, continued to improve, and his best time, 1:30.727, was never
beaten. Alonso was fifth. The Williams drivers languished in 7th (JPM)
and 11th. Top 6: Trulli, M. Schumacher, Coulthard, Barrichello,
Alonso, Raikkonen. 10th
October 2003 japanese gp. friday test. Weather: Warm but overcast Temperatures:
ambient: 20-22°C; track: 22-27°C
Renault F1 Press Release Allan McNish
R23B-03 1:32.170, 1st, 38 laps Fernando
Alonso R23B-06 1:32.367, 2nd, 45 laps Jarno Trulli R23B-05 1:32.891, 3rd, 24 laps This morning’s final Heathrow test session
saw the Renault F1 Team take the first three positions at Suzuka ahead of the
Japanese Grand Prix. In his last outing for the team, test driver Allan
McNish claimed top spot, ahead of team-mates Fernando Alonso and Jarno
Trulli. Although the R23B proved its speed during the two hours, the team
also suffered several reliability problems. Jarno Trulli lost the final
forty-five minutes of the session with a clutch problem, while Allan McNish
suffered an engine failure just before the session ended. (Two ‘extras’
testing this morning alongside the regular drivers were Bruni for Minardi again,
and a newcomer – Satoshi Motoyama for Jordan.) Pat Symonds, Executive Director of
Engineering “The final Heathrow session wasn’t perfect
from our point of view, with Jarno losing time owing to a clutch problem and
Allan’s engine failure. In spite of this, we have a reasonably clear picture
of the tyre situation as the track was in very good condition today. I would
also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous contribution
Allan has made to the team this year, and thank him very much for all the
effort he has put in: it was good to see him top the times today in his final
session.” Allan McNish, test driver “Overall, we did not have much work to do on
the set-up this morning: the balance and grip levels were immediately very
good, and we had very little understeer, which is usually the main problem at
this track. It was a very competitive start to the weekend and, although I
had a problem at the end of the session, it didn’t restrict our work. I want
to thank the team for a very rewarding, successful year: I have enjoyed a
great working relationship with them, and we have managed to have some fun as
well!” Denis Chevrier, Engine Operations Manager “A disrupted Heathrow session,
with Jarno experiencing problems and Allan unfortunately falling victim to an
engine failure. However, this did not prevent us from completing the
programme we had planned, and we have collected plenty of information for the
rest of the weekend. Things could have gone better, but overall I think we
had an interesting and useful morning.” 7th
October 2003 japanese gp. driver preview. Jarno, Suzuka is well known as one of the
drivers’ favourite circuits of the year. Is that the same for you? Definitely. It is my favourite
type of circuit, that’s to say somewhere very technical which demands lots
from the driver and the car. It has every type of corner, and the car needs a
little bit of everything to be competitive there. The most difficult part is
the series of ‘esses’ behind the pits, where you need to get the perfect line
from start to finish, because how you take each corner dictates the speed you
can carry into the next one. It’s a big challenge, but one I enjoy a lot. And how competitive do you hope to be in
Japan? I think Suzuka will suit the
R23B, and certainly we should be even more competitive than at some of the
other tracks we have been to recently. Since we introduced the ‘B’ spec at
Silverstone, the car has been very strong at every type of circuit, and the
characteristics of Suzuka should suit our package. The guys at Viry have
worked very hard through the year as well, and that has brought big benefits.
We are looking to end the season on a high, and the fantastic Japanese fans
will only help that! |