McNish Positive after Promising Start

Scot Allan McNish was optimistic following a promising start to his German Grand Prix weekend in Friday's practice at the Hockenheim circuit.

"We had two quite positive sessions today," said Toyota driver McNish after posting the ninth fastest time. "We made some improvements to the car each time we went out, trying both types of tyre and I think Michelin has a good package here. The car seems to suit the circuit reasonably well at the moment."

Cologne-based Toyota, who have scored two points so far in 20022, are aiming to recover from a disappointing French Grand Prix last Sunday, when both McNish and teammate Mika Salo retired with engine problems.

The Japanese squad endured a day of mixed fortunes today, and while McNish was slightly over a second slower than the pace-setting Ferraris, teammate Mika Salo failed to shine.

The Finn wound up only 18th fastest with the second Michelin-shod TF102, but was still satisfied as he managed to complete his scheduled programme.

"I managed to complete my programme today," he said. "We lost some time due to an electronics problem, which we are working on. We did a good number of laps during the two sessions, which was essential due to the amount of set-up work we had to concentrate on for our first visit to this circuit."