Salo Pleased with Top Ten Position

Finn Mika Salo was pleased with his top ten qualifying position for Sunday's European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring circuit.

Saturday's performance allowed the Toyota driver to score his fifth top ten result in qualifying on the Japanese squad's rookie season. However Salo, who set the tenth quickest time nearly 1.5 seconds off pole position, admitted the TF102's handling was not ideal.

"The car was okay today with only some small handling problems," explained Salo. "My best time came on the first run when the car was at its best. We found it difficult to balance the car after that - we came close a couple of times, but couldn't quite get there. I am quite happy with tenth place though. We are now back to business after Canada."

Teammate Allan McNish completed a strong performance for Toyota, whose factory is just a 40-minute drive away from the German circuit. The Scot was hit by electronic problems in his car, but was nonetheless satisfied with his 13th fastest time.

"Not a bad result," McNish said. "From a balance point the car was better again in comparison to both yesterday and this morning's sessions. We had some intermittent problems with the electronics, which we need to work on before the race tomorrow. The car is much more comfortable than yesterday to drive, so it should be reasonable for the race."