Points Finish to Lift Toyota, Says Gascoyne

Toyota technical director Mike Gascoyne believes the team's hard work is starting to pay off this season and said Olivier Panis' fifth place finish in Sunday's United States Grand Prix will give them a much-needed boost.

The team made their debut in 2002 but have failed to shine in their first two and a half seasons and Gascoyne was brought in from Renault at the start of the year in an effort to turn things around.

"Our hard work is starting to show and I am very, very pleased for the whole team," said Gascoyne, whose team plan introduce a revised car for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

"This lifts the whole team, it makes all the hard work that we have got to do and are doing now that much easier. Olivier drove a very competitive race for us - he drove fantastically."

Panis' fifth place equalled their best ever result - he also finished fifth in the German Grand Prix last year - and it gave the team four points to push them into seventh place, three points ahead of Jordan.