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Zonta confirmed for Shanghai

Ricardo Zonta and Olivier Panis will race for Toyota at the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend, laying to rest speculation that the team's 2005 signing Jarno Trulli would take up his post early, having been released from his Renault contract last week

Trulli tested for Toyota at Silverstone last Thursday and was impressed with the TF104, but admitted that one day's testing was not enough time to give him the confidence to race the car. Thus Zonta gets his fourth race of the season, although according to sources there is still a chance that Trulli may race in Japan.

"I was just learning the car," said Trulli after the test. "I'm very happy with the progress we made but I'm not quite confident enough to race the car in China. There were quite a few things that were very positive about the car though, which surprised me although of course there is still work to do."

For Zonta it means another opportunity to show what he can do after a strong outing in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa last month, and he has the added bonus of knowing that everyone starts from a clean sheet of paper in Shanghai.

"I am really looking forward to the Chinese Grand Prix," said Zonta. "As a driver, it is always enjoyable to visit new tracks. Because it is a new track, it is impossible to predict how we will get on this weekend, although we will have a much better idea after free practice on Friday.

"During the first hour of free practice, the most important thing is to get to know the circuit and to find the limit both of the track and of the car."

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