Japan Preview Quotes: Toyota

Olivier Panis: "Suzuka is a fantastic circuit and the perfect way to end such an exciting season. It is a very fast track and with a nice combination of slow corners, off-camber corners, long straights and fast changes of direction, which should suit our car. The Esses are where you find most lap time at this circuit, so we will work a lot in this area. The Japanese Grand Prix is obviously very special to Toyota and if the fans from Megaweb are anything to go by, it will be a special atmosphere in Suzuka this weekend. Being so close to 5th place in the championship, it will be our aim to end the season in the best position possible and I am as determined as ever to fight for points."

Cristiano da Matta: "I have never driven at Suzuka before, but from what I have seen and heard, it is a very technical circuit, so we will have an important session on Friday morning to get up to speed as quickly as possible. Olivier and myself have been busy in Japan since last Sunday when we gave fans in Tokyo the chance to see the TF103 in action at Megaweb. It was pretty remarkable to see so many people turn up. I just hope we can reward their support with some points in Toyota's home race this weekend, as we look to improve on our eighth place in the constructors' championship. From a personal point of view, I will also be pushing hard to gain places in the drivers' standings."

Ove Andersson, Team Principal: "The Japanese Grand Prix is possibly the most important of the season for Panasonic Toyota Racing. Not only is it our official home race, but we also find ourselves in a very close battle in the constructors' championship, with only six points splitting 5th place from 9th. We are again fully focused on qualifying our cars in a position on the grid from which to fight for a top-eight race result. Suzuka should suit our car quite well, so I am optimistic we can put a TF103 in the top half of the grid for the fourteenth race and from there aim for points in front of our Japanese fans. As always, we will do all we can to give them something to cheer about on Sunday afternoon."