Toyota Target Maiden Victory

After Ralf Schumacher topped the times during the morning free practice session, Trulli proved that aero improvements to the TF105 had helped the team make a step forward in performance as he secured provisional pole.

Toyota technical director Mike Gascoyne is confident about the team's prospects for the rest of the weekend.

"We expected to be able to go much better here, and we have got to look to win the race," said Gascoyne. "This is very much an aero circuit as there are a lot of high speed corners and we have been working really hard on a lot of updates here.

"But we have only done half the job so far. Ralf is a bit disappointed, because this morning he was on form, but we are happy with first and fourth."

Trulli admitted that windy conditions had made it difficult to get much confidence in the car - which is why he was so surprised to have ended up on top of the timesheets.

"This morning I was struggling with the car and the engine, but it was a great lap this afternoon and I want to thank the whole team and factory as well because we had a new aero update here," explained Trulli.

"We keep improving and today is the result. It was a bit windy today and I wasn't fully confident to attack, which is why I am a little bit surprised."