Toyota Surprised by Strong Pace

Toyota's technical director Mike Gascoyne says the Japanese squad are more competitive than expected following Friday's practice for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Brazilian Ricardo Zonta was the quickest of the Toyota drivers, posting the ninth fastest time of the day ahead of Frenchman Olivier Panis and Australian test driver Ryan Briscoe, who finished in tenth and 11th positions respectively.

Gascoyne was pleased with the day's work and admitted he wasn't expecting his drivers to be so close to the top of the times.

"A good job from the whole team meant that we could work through our programme with no trouble," said Gascoyne. "Of course Friday means we are focused on Michelin tyre evaluation and we can clearly see from today's running which compound is the best for us this weekend.

"Ricardo, Olivier and Ryan are separated by just over one-hundredth-of-a-second and generally, I think we are more competitive than we expected to be at this track. We have to ensure this trend continues for the remainder of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend."