Toyota Duo Confident of Strong Race

Finn Mika Salo was pleased with his qualifying performance today at the Spa circuit, the Toyota driver claiming he benefitted from the powerful engine of the Japanese squad.

"Low-speed circuits are behind us and we can now make full use of our engine power," said Salo after posting the ninth quickest time of the session ahead of Sunday's race. "We had a chance here, we took it and I am really happy with today's performance.

"We only did minor adjustments to the car in qualifying and changed the tyre pressures for my last run, the best one. We are back in the race again."

Teammate Allan McNish, who is still seeking his first Formula One points, was also confident of a strong showing in the race after setting the 13th quickest time of the day.

"We continued working on the car's set-up during qualifying, but unfortunately we did not find the right tyre pressure for my last run," McNish said. "But the session went well for me overall.

"The car feels very consistent in race trim and Spa offers real chances to overtake, so I feel rather confident for tomorrow."