Toyota Expect Tough Race after Qualifying Struggle

Toyota are expecting a tough United States Grand Prix tomorrow after struggling during qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where they are competing for the first time this weekend.

"We made no major changes to either of the TF102s since this morning's free practice sessions, but both drivers struggled a lot in qualifying to find a good feeling in the cars," said Keizo Takahashi, Toyota's technical co-ordinator, after the session.

"It was a difficult session and we will sit down this afternoon to find the root of the problems and make the necessary modifications before tomorrow. We are starting quite far back for the race so we have a real challenge on our hands."

Scot Allan McNish was, for the second time this season, the quickest of the Japanese squad's drivers, outqualifying Finn Mika Salo. McNish, who had already qualified ahead of Salo at the German Grand Prix, finished down in 16th position, while his Finn teammate wound up 19th, only ahead of Minardi's Alex Yoong.

"The car this morning was relatively good and we only made minor changes in the afternoon," said Salo. "But in qualifying the car completely lost grip and my best time was over half-a-second slower than this morning. Clearly we had something wrong, but we'll have to find out exactly what.

"The wheel sensor broke on my final run so we lost a final opportunity. We have plenty of positions to make up tomorrow so we will have to reduce the downforce level to make the car go faster on the main straight to give us the chance to overtake."