DECEMBER 12, 2008

Waldschmidt tests for Toyota

Young Dutch driver Henki Waldschmidt took part in his first official Formula 1 test when he completed a successful two-day run for Panasonic Toyota Racing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Young Dutch driver Henki Waldschmidt took part in his first official Formula 1 test when he completed a successful two-day run for Panasonic Toyota Racing at the Bahrain International Circuit. The 20-year-old is a member of the Toyota Young Drivers Programme (TDP) and raced in the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2008. As in previous year's Panasonic Toyota Racing is playing its part in developing TDP drivers and Henki was given two days behind the wheel of a TF108 at the team's penultimate test of 2008 to give him invaluable experience of a Formula 1 car.

Henki completed 128 laps and improved continuously throughout Wednesday and Thursday, finishing with a highly respectable best lap of 1min 33.430secs, within 1.5secs of Jarno Trulli's fastest time in qualifying for the 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix, despite different track conditions and different goals.

Jarno was also on track in Bahrain this week, gathering more data on the new Bridgestone slick tyres and a low downforce aerodynamic configuration to help the team prepare for the 2009 season. \