JANUARY 17, 2004

Panis positive after two days of roll-out testing with TF104

The Toyota TF104 has been testing for two days at Paul Ricard and Olivier Panis says that the initial shakedown runs were very positive.

"I have a good feeling about the car," he said.

"The start was as good as it could be," said Cristiano da Matta. "We hope to make a big improvement to last year and close the gap on the big teams."

The TF104 is conventional in appearance but features an all-new titanium gearbox.

"It is an evolution," said chief designer Gustav Brunner, "we have not tried to reinvent the wheel but nothing was left untouched."

The car features a new engine which Luca Marmorini and his team have built to cope with the new regulations.

"The target was not to compromise in terms of power and weight but to extend the life to almost 800km, in effect doubling its life."