Trulli Laments Poor Conditions

Italian driver Jarno Trulli lamented the poor conditions which hampered his Grand Prix debut with the Toyota team at today's practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Trulli, who left Renault following the Italian Grand Prix, is replacing Brazilian Ricardo Zonta at the wheel of the second Toyota. His debut today, however, was hindered by the heavy rain that hit Suzuka and that made the running very hard.

The Italian finished as 14th quickest after completing just seven laps in the second session.

"It was a difficult debut for me today, although I think we can be pleased to have done some meaningful running in tough conditions," said Trulli. "I have never driven the TF104B in the wet, so it was useful to get some experience.

"On the other hand, I took it comparatively easy today because the conditions were very dangerous and I didn't want to spin or go off the track and damage the car.

"The positive thing is that we have done some laps and gained some beneficial experience for the rest of the weekend, which at the moment looks like it could be quite tricky with the weather."