Jun 12 2007, 06:05 PM
"Shocked and Relieved after Kubica crash"
QUOTE
Toyota's Jarno Trulli was better placed than most to witness the true severity of Robert Kubica's accident in Montreal - it was his car that Kubica ran into, triggering the crash. Trulli discusses his feelings on the incident, his difficult Canadian weekend and his prospects for Indianapolis...
Q: Drama in Montreal from first to last. What can you say?
Jarno Trulli: Before anything, I just want to say how delighted I am that Robert Kubica is not badly injured after the accident on lap 27, when we were racing closely. I was shocked about the violence of the accident and very concerned because I had no information.
Q: What happened?
JT: I was struggling with tyre graining and lack of grip. Robert was quicker and I gave him the left-hand side of the track. The last time I saw him in my mirrors he was on that side, then I just got hit at the back and I have no idea what happened. I saw the medical car out for a long period and I was very concerned.
Q: What about your own race?
JT: I was battling for points in the early stages and then after Robert's accident I had a flat tyre and had to make a pit stop. I don't know if it was because of contact or because of debris. After that it was a confusing race and I was at the back. I had to make another stop later on and when I came back out I just lost concentration and drove straight into the wall at Turn 1 with 12 laps to go. Honestly, I was really glad that it was all over. It doesn't really matter how it went for me, all that matters is that nobody was seriously injured.
Q: How big a concern were the two suspension failures you had on Friday?
JT: The team analysed the data and it looked like a mixture of circumstances which made the upright fail over a particular kerb at Turn Eight. There was no clear explanation because the component was exactly the same as last year and the kerb is exactly the same too. There is something different in the suspension geometry and that's why we completely changed the characteristics of the set-up to try to help the situation.
Q: Did it affect your confidence?
JT: When you want to be quick you don't pay too much attention to what might happen and so I was more concentrated on getting the best out of myself and the car in qualifying rather than thinking about Friday. Obviously, when I went out on Saturday morning I was a bit cautious and I was concentrating hard in Turn 8, but more on not hitting the kerb rather than being quick. We are drivers and once we close the visor we focus on our job.
Q: Was a top-10 qualifying position better than you expected?
JT: I would say it was unexpected. We lost most of Friday practice yesterday and Saturday morning was pretty poor because the track conditions were bad. We went into qualifying with a lot to discover, we had to change the car set-up to overcome the mechanical problem and we also had to avoid the kerb. So 10th was a great result. I was more than satisfied!
Q: Have you ever suffered a double component break before?
JT: No, it's the first time for me and also for the team, which has never had these kind of problems. The first time I hit the kerb I called on the radio and told the team to bring Ralf in as well until we investigated the issue.
Q: Were there any positive points about your trip to Canada?
JT: As I said, I think it is a tremendous positive that on Sunday night Robert Kubica had been examined at hospital in Montreal and was okay and able to talk and tell jokes to the people from his team who visited him. It says a lot about the strength of today's cars and the positive progress that has been made with safety, but it also proves that what we do has dangers and that we can never be complacent. It is never nice to see something like that and the most important thing about the whole weekend is that he was okay. Everything else was pretty much insignificant but, away from the track, it was fun to entertain the British press at one of Montreal's nicest restaurants on Thursday evening and give them an opportunity to sample the famous Trulli wine! It was all from my own vineyards and they seemed to approve. Unfortunately I couldn't join in and had to stick to water! But the overriding feeling from the weekend is not about light-hearted matters, it is one of relief.
Q: Drama in Montreal from first to last. What can you say?
Jarno Trulli: Before anything, I just want to say how delighted I am that Robert Kubica is not badly injured after the accident on lap 27, when we were racing closely. I was shocked about the violence of the accident and very concerned because I had no information.
Q: What happened?
JT: I was struggling with tyre graining and lack of grip. Robert was quicker and I gave him the left-hand side of the track. The last time I saw him in my mirrors he was on that side, then I just got hit at the back and I have no idea what happened. I saw the medical car out for a long period and I was very concerned.
Q: What about your own race?
JT: I was battling for points in the early stages and then after Robert's accident I had a flat tyre and had to make a pit stop. I don't know if it was because of contact or because of debris. After that it was a confusing race and I was at the back. I had to make another stop later on and when I came back out I just lost concentration and drove straight into the wall at Turn 1 with 12 laps to go. Honestly, I was really glad that it was all over. It doesn't really matter how it went for me, all that matters is that nobody was seriously injured.
Q: How big a concern were the two suspension failures you had on Friday?
JT: The team analysed the data and it looked like a mixture of circumstances which made the upright fail over a particular kerb at Turn Eight. There was no clear explanation because the component was exactly the same as last year and the kerb is exactly the same too. There is something different in the suspension geometry and that's why we completely changed the characteristics of the set-up to try to help the situation.
Q: Did it affect your confidence?
JT: When you want to be quick you don't pay too much attention to what might happen and so I was more concentrated on getting the best out of myself and the car in qualifying rather than thinking about Friday. Obviously, when I went out on Saturday morning I was a bit cautious and I was concentrating hard in Turn 8, but more on not hitting the kerb rather than being quick. We are drivers and once we close the visor we focus on our job.
Q: Was a top-10 qualifying position better than you expected?
JT: I would say it was unexpected. We lost most of Friday practice yesterday and Saturday morning was pretty poor because the track conditions were bad. We went into qualifying with a lot to discover, we had to change the car set-up to overcome the mechanical problem and we also had to avoid the kerb. So 10th was a great result. I was more than satisfied!
Q: Have you ever suffered a double component break before?
JT: No, it's the first time for me and also for the team, which has never had these kind of problems. The first time I hit the kerb I called on the radio and told the team to bring Ralf in as well until we investigated the issue.
Q: Were there any positive points about your trip to Canada?
JT: As I said, I think it is a tremendous positive that on Sunday night Robert Kubica had been examined at hospital in Montreal and was okay and able to talk and tell jokes to the people from his team who visited him. It says a lot about the strength of today's cars and the positive progress that has been made with safety, but it also proves that what we do has dangers and that we can never be complacent. It is never nice to see something like that and the most important thing about the whole weekend is that he was okay. Everything else was pretty much insignificant but, away from the track, it was fun to entertain the British press at one of Montreal's nicest restaurants on Thursday evening and give them an opportunity to sample the famous Trulli wine! It was all from my own vineyards and they seemed to approve. Unfortunately I couldn't join in and had to stick to water! But the overriding feeling from the weekend is not about light-hearted matters, it is one of relief.
Added on June 12, 2007, 6:11 pmwhat the hell happened here?
taken during Friday practice...look like the wheel exploded upon impact. I don't wanna be anywhere near the cockpit when that happens
This post has been edited by young_soul: Jun 12 2007, 06:13 PM
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