Lucky 13 for Trulli
ByReuters
Published 26/06/2006 at 07:31 GMT
Jarno Trulli's Formula One nightmare ended on Sunday when the Toyota driver scored his first points of the season at the Canadian Grand Prix. The Italian's sixth place in Montreal was his first finish in the points since he came fifth in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last September, 13 races ago.
2006 Bahrain GP Toyota Trulli
Image credit: From Official Website
"I'm just delighted, I have finally scored my first points of the season at last," said a relieved Trulli, who is hoping to renew his contract with the Japanese car manufacturer for 2007 and beyond.
"It was a great race in difficult conditions and a great effort from the whole team. We have been pushing hard to improve the car and we've definitely made a big step forward.
"I pushed really hard until the end because I did not want to lose those points. We made it to the finish and I can finally celebrate getting off the mark in 2006."
Trulli, 31, had qualified on the second row alongside Ferrari's seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher and held up the frustrated German for much of the race.
The Italian has yet to sign a new deal with the team he joined in 2004 but the paddock rumour mill in Canada suggested he would be staying on to partner Germany's Ralf Schumacher in an unchanged lineup.
Team principal Tsutomu Tomita praised Trulli's effort in providing the team with a badly needed boost.
"We're delighted that Jarno has finally scored his first points of the year after narrowly missing out so often," said the Japanese.
"Sixth place was our true place today because there were no retirements from the top cars, so we again confirmed that we have the fourth best car on the grid."
Two Renaults, two Ferraris and a McLaren finished ahead of Trulli.
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