Salo Downbeat Despite Strong Showing

Finn Mika Salo was somewhat disappointed after practice for the French Grand Prix despite posting the seventh quickest time of the day for the Toyota team.

The 35-year old endured a troubled day that was cut short due to engine problems towards the end of the hour-long session, but the Japanese squad nevertheless showed an impressive pace at the Magny-Cours circuit, with Salo finishing only a little more than a second off David Coulthard's time.

"Not such a good first day," said Salo at the end of the day. "I had an incident early in the first session when a car on its installation lap collided with me. We then had to repair the steering on my car, which lost a lot of time.

"We concentrated on setting up the car in the second session, but we had an engine-related problem towards the end preventing us from completing today's programme. The exact cause of the problem needs to be investigated."

Salo's teammate Allan McNish, who had already tested for Toyota at the French circuit last year, wound up 11th fastest.

"Friday is always a little bit hard to read, but the car was definitely better by the end of the second session," said the Scot. "Traffic is always a major issue round here, and I think that is going to be a big factor for tomorrow in qualifying.

"I was held up on a couple occasions today, but overall it probably happened to a lot of other people as well."