Toyota race to solve suspension trouble

MONTREAL, June 9 (Reuters) Toyota face a race to solve a suspension problem in time for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix after practice was ruined by problems with Jarno Trulli's car.

Trulli's front suspension broke twice during the second session of free practice and his team-mate Ralf Schumacher was forced to stop while the team looked into the problem.

''That was not a good session for us,'' said Dieter Gass, Toyota chief race engineer yesterday.

''We have an issue on the front suspension of Jarno's car which is clearly related to this circuit. We have now identified the front upright as the problem area.

''We have no changes on the parts here and they have been tested and run throughout the season so far. So we need to look into that and understand what has happened,'' he said.

''The problem has overshadowed all our running today and we are lacking a lot of the information that we were looking for.

Now we need to sit down and change today's run plan to see how we can make the best out of the weekend,'' added Gass.

Trulli, tenth in the championship after five races in which he has failed to make the top five, said the team had to come up with a solution quickly.

''We will have to investigate the issue and it also means I have had only a very short time to work on set-up changes. I've had problems with the rear of the car and I've struggled with high rear tyre wear so I have a lot of work ahead to catch up tomorrow,'' he said.

John Howett, Toyota team president said he was confident that the team could solve the problem in time for qualifying today, adding that if necessary replacement parts could be flown in.

Toyota are currently sixth in the constructors' championship.

Reuters AKD RN1453