Trulli Happy to Score Again
Jarno Trulli hailed his seventh place finish in the San Marino Grand Prix as a good piece of damage limitation, with his Toyota team readily admitting that Imola was going to be their toughest weekend of the year
Toyota's cars have traditionally been poor in dealing with the kinds of kerbs found at Imola and, although Trulli managed to run as high as third place in the opening stages of the race, he eventually dropped back down the order after suffering from oversteer.
But thankful to have actually come home in the points, Trulli was handed a further piece of good news when he found out that his finish has helped him keep hold of his second place in the Drivers' Championship.
"This was always going to be the hardest race of the year for Toyota, so the fact that we took home three points between us makes it a good day," said the Italian.
"I changed my set-up just before qualifying and I ended up suffering from oversteer late on, but we've limited the damage. I gave everything I had and kept fighting to the end and we took 7th place.
"When my new son Enzo arrived last week I felt determined to bring something home for him. It's not a trophy this time, but two points are enough for now!"
Teammate Ralf Schumacher had his race chances compromised by a poor start that dropped him down the order, but he nevertheless recovered to claim eighth.
"To finish with both cars in the points here is a good result at this circuit which was always going to be a difficult one for us," said the German. "I had no real problems other than the odd balance issue on one set of tyres and the guys did a great job for me - especially at the second pit stop.
"The eighth place arrived because we had such a perfect pit stop and we were able to catch the Williams in the pits. So a big thanks to all the guys and it's great that we can stay in second place in the Constructors' Championship."
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