SEPTEMBER 20, 2002
Castroneves tests for Toyota at Paul Ricard
IRL driver and two time defending Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves was given his first taste of Formula One Friday behind the wheel of the Toyota TF102 at the Paul Ricard circuit.
The Brazilian completed 75 laps of the French circuit, where the team has been testing since Tuesday and was, as usual, quite excited to have the opportunity. "I loved every single second of today's session," said Castroneves. "I did quite a few laps, doing some long runs as well as some qualifying laps. This was my first time in a Formula 1 car and I was impressed by how easy the TF102 was to drive, and especially by the braking. The team were great and worked professionally and I am very happy with the overall organization of the day."
Toyota also ran its TF102B, which has been modified to run next year's RVX-03 engine, for the first time this week. Test driver Stephane Sarrazin completed nearly 1000km over the four day test in the new car.