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Da Matta puts Toyota on the board

Cristiano Da Matta scored his and Panasonic Toyota Racing's first points of the 2003 season with sixth place in the Spanish Grand Prix

The Toyota TF103s looked competitive from the beginning of the weekend, with Da Matta fourth quickest in first qualifying on Friday, just 0.31s slower than Michael Schumacher in Ferrari's new F2003-GA.

When Da Matta suffered from oversteer in Saturday's main qualifying session, Olivier Panis kept the team's end up by qualifying sixth. In the race, however, there was more frustration for the 36-year-old Frenchman who has yet to score a point this year. Panis made a poor start but a switch to a two-stop strategy saw him set fifth fastest lap of the race and on course to score strong points before a suspected gearbox failure put him out on lap 42.

Da Matta, who started 13th, drove a strong race and had a close fight with Ralf Schumacher for the last 15 laps, finishing just 0.35s behind the struggling Williams-BMW at the chequered flag.

"We still have to improve but we have seen today that we can play at the top of the field," said satisfied team manager Ange Pasquali. "It was a good drive by Cristiano in only his fifth F1 race. Back at HQ in Cologne they will have enjoyed watching that on TV. There is a bonus scheme per point for each employee and I have been promising money ever since Australia. They had started to take the Mickey out of me but this time I can walk into the company on Monday with my head held high!"

The team's first points of the year coincided with the visit of Toyota Motor Corporation chairman Mr. Okuda and honorary chairman Dr. Toyoda.

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