Trulli boosted by Malaysian GP result

Jarno Trulli believes it will be difficult to repeat his Malaysian Grand Prix result in this weekend`s race in Bahrain.

The Toyota driver finished in fourth place in the Sepang race, giving the Toyota team their best result since the 2006 French Grand Prix.

And although Trulli admits both him and the team have been boosted by the result, he reckons Toyota will need a perfect weekend to be able to repeat it.

“I had a fantastic result in Malaysia, which was great for the whole team, so we are all very motivated and looking forward to the next race,” said Trulli in a team preview.

“It will not be easy to repeat the result we had in Malaysia; we will need another perfect weekend, but we have shown that the new car is a big improvement and we are able to challenge for the top six.

“We had a productive test in Bahrain in February so I expect to be competitive and score more points.”

Teammate Timo Glock, meanwhile, is looking to finish his first race for the team after two retirements in Australia and Malaysia.

“It is very disappointing that I have not finished a race yet for Toyota but I hope that will change in Bahrain,” he said. “The accident in Malaysia was unfortunate and it stopped me fighting for points, which I am sure I could have done.

“However, I prefer to look forward and I am still positive, especially after qualifying in the top 10 for both races so far.

“The test in Bahrain last month went well and the information we got from that should help us a bit this weekend, even if the temperature seems likely to be quite a bit hotter than when we were last there. The car has also improved quite a bit since that test but there is still work to do to adjust it to my driving style.

“Obviously my first target is to finish the race after my bad luck in the first two races but I think I can again reach Q3 and hopefully finish in the top eight for the first time with Toyota.”

31.3.2008 ▪ Formula One ▪ www.autosport.com