THE TORO ENTERS THE RING
This morning, at the Circuit de Catalunya, outside Barcelona,
Scuderia Toro Rosso's contender for the 2009 Formula 1 World
Championship was unveiled in the pit lane, before beginning a four
day test programme alongside every other team entered in the
series.
At nine o'clock, as soon as pit lane was opened, Sebastien Bourdais
took to the track for the initial installation lap. After that, it was back to
the garage for the usual checks.
Codenamed the STR4, the car is a joint venture between Red Bull
Technology and Toro Rosso and once again this year, it is fitted with
a Ferrari V8 engine.
"In 2008 our performance exceeded our expectations," commented
team principal, Franz Tost. "It's going to be tough to live up to that
this year. Within the team we can rely on a good level of stability, as
all the key players on the technical side have been in place for some
time now. Further stability comes courtesy of the input of Red Bull
Technology. From Red Bull Racing's first test in Jerez it appeared
the chassis was competitive and that Adrian Newey and his team
had come up with a very promising package. This year marks the
third year of our collaboration with Ferrari, which, on both a human
and technical level, works very well. In 2008 we lined up two F1
novice drivers, but Bourdais now has 18 grands prix under his belt,
and this year's rookie, Buemi, has already shown well in winter
testing."
Sebastien Bourdais, who shook down chassis 01 at the Adria track
last week, drives today and tomorrow in chassis 02, before handing
over to Sebastien Buemi for the final two days.
-credit: toro rosso
