[UlceskLialels]

Toyota is not going anywhere from F1, they will stay atleast untill 2012.

[sbrpkkl]

In 05 they're were decent

[poekfpojoibien]

Sure, enter Le Mans...again...yet again something else you've never won!
Toyota; they inevitably win in every form of motorsport they enter... Toyota; they inevitably fail in every form of motorsport they enter...

[singleGirl]

Toyota is not going anywhere from F1, they will stay atleast untill 2012.

You really think so, I got to say that if they dont pick up in the next season or two they will be gone.. They have put millions in and got nothing back.

[pitoufsd]

Sure, enter Le Mans...again...yet again something else you've never won!
Toyota;
Toyota; they inevitably fail in every form of motorsport they enter...

Why do you say so? They won in WRC.
Second position in 1999 Le Mans wasn't exactly a "failure" either and they were close to winning in 1998.

[usacomm]

I think a lot depends on how the NASCAR program goes, if they can dominate NASCAR (and in testing they're looking good) we could see them out of F1 earlier than expected but if that fails also perhaps they'll hang around, after all how much can you succeed with Ralf and Trulli! With all their money it surprises me that they have never hired an A Grade driver....

[+++Poguru+++]

Sure, enter Le Mans...again...yet again something else you've never won!
Toyota;
Toyota; they inevitably fail in every form of motorsport they enter...

Hhmm.... you really believe this ???

You shouldn't make such gross generalizations, without doing your...

"Homework" !!!

Hint.... try Google.

Toyota's been involved in racing, from Rally, to Sports Cars, to Indy Cars, to Formula One and NA$CAR, over the past 50 years. I'm sure they've had a win or two somewhere in one of those series... !!!

[pitoufsd]

With all their money it surprises me that they have never hired an A Grade driver....

How many drivers are there on the grid, to who Toyota hasn't made an offer? I think they are in minority. So it's not Toyota's fault that they haven't tried to hire an A-grade driver, but all of them have refused to join Toyota.

[RastusuadegeFrimoum]

Toyota's been involved in racing, from Rally, to Sports Cars, to Indy Cars, to Formula One and NA$CAR, over the past 50 years.

NASCAR and Indy excepted all those formulae were entered by Toyota Motorsport GMBH based in Cologne, Germany. Winning with a hybrid at Le Mans isn't going to be easy so who is going to do it for them? Toyota Motorsport GMBH are now known as Toyota F1, are they going to have two major campaigns on the go at one time or is someone else going to take over the Le Mans project?

Alternatively Toyota's idea could make eminent sense. With development in F1 severely restricted in the future Toyota and everyone else may find they have R/D and production capacity thats sitting around unused. Making that unused capacity work on a Le Mans car may be a good idea.

[poekfpojoibien]

Hhmm.... you really believe this ???

You shouldn't make such gross generalizations, without doing your...

"Homework" !!!

Hint.... try Google.

Toyota's been involved in racing, from Rally, to Sports Cars, to Indy Cars, to Formula One and NA$CAR, over the past 50 years. I'm sure they've had a win or two somewhere in one of those series... !!!

I will make generalizations about Toyota as long as every idiot writing for a mazagine or presenting a TV programme comes out with the crap about how they 'inevitably always succeed'. Unlike those people, I don't need to try google, I have followed racing for a long time..

They won IMSA - with the Eagle, after Jaguar, Nissan and Porsche had left..
The didn't win Le Mans in the Gp C. era - Relatively tiny companies like Porsche and even Mazda did! They had some wins in the Japanese GP.C series, but were outpaced by Porsche in the early days, and Mazda and Nissan in the later days.
The BTCC - some race wins; no title. Unlike Nissan, Volvo, Renault and BMW
They didn't win Le Mans in the GT1 era, again beaten by Porsche
They didn't win Le Mans with a warmed-over TS020 prototype, beaten by BMW.
They didn't win in the WRC era of world rallying, beaten by Mitsubishi and Subaru; those well-funded giants of the Japanese motor industry
Japanese GT's have been Nissan's stomping ground, in the last decade Toyota have won it precisely once IIRC.. Nissan and Honda are the dominant forces.
They left CART with again precisely 0 titles.
The IRL? 1 title, while Honda have dominated ever since.
The Dakar Rally? 0 wins. While Mitsubishi dominate.
F1? Should have left it at Yamaha engines; they were pretty good by the end!

So the sooner this useless, overblown joke of a team hitches up it's trailer and heads off, the better.
When the best thing you have achieved is giving Cristiano Da Matta, Allan McNish and Timo Glock deserving F1 drives, you know your results are pathetic...

Funny how those who said 'watch out for Toyota, they always inevitably succeed in every form of motorsport they attempt' have been awfully quiet recently. Bleating about McLaren and injustice mostly...

[WumibBesowe]

They didn't win in the WRC era of world rallying, beaten by Mitsubishi and Subaru; those well-funded giants of the Japanese motor industry

Not at all.
Toyota won three manufacturers titles, which is equal to Subaru and more than Mitsubishi's one. And four drivers titles, equal to Mitsubishi and one more than Subaru.

Shoulda stuck with rallying IMO.

[FateHostera]

... after all how much can you succeed with Ralf and Trulli! With all their money it surprises me that they have never hired an A Grade driver....

With that crappy car they have had in the last 3 years not even Michael Schumacher could've give them success

[ElisasAUG]

Didn't they also cheat in WRC?

[singleGirl]

I thought that this was a thread about toyota in F1??

[f29sXS07]

it should be...

The real question here is, will they decide to give the project over to their Toyota Racing Development (TRD) branch in the US, similar to what Honda has done with their Le Mans plans and HPD.

The crux of the matter is that alternative fuels, hybrids, and other such projects are developing in sportscar racing, American Le Mans Series specifically, since Audi went the Diesel route two years ago. KERS development and other technologies are now headed to what will be seen as the most advanced racing series on the planet. Don't be suprised if BMW decides to return to prototype racing in a similar way, using their Hyrdogen burning engines.

Meanwhile, Max & Bernie continue to dance around, looking for ways to not utilize these technologies, and unlike their attempts to subtilily undermine Group C, the rules remain safely out of their hands and in those of the ACO & Mr. Panos.

[+++Poguru+++]

[QUOTE=Osella;412708]I will make generalizations about Toyota as long as every idiot writing for a mazagine or presenting a TV programme comes out with the crap about how they 'inevitably always succeed'. Unlike those people, I don't need to try google, I have followed racing for a long time..

Hhmmm... and you STILL believe...

" Toyota: they inevitably fail in every form of motorsport they enter" ???



Guess there's no need to continue this discussion !!!



Now for those who are a bit more Realistic...

We may be seeing a new Golden Age for Sports Cars.

With all the new sportscar models scheduled to arrive in the next year or two:

Nissan's... GT-R with twin turbo V-6
Honda's... NSX with a new V-10
Toyota's.. F-1 super car also with a V-10(if Bernie allows the use of F-1)
Aston Martin's latest V-12
Corvette's C-6 now entering ALMS GT2
Audi's R-8 with a V-10
BMW's... M3 with V-8 power
Porsche and Ferrari are sure to be competitive

I'm guessing marketing will look to this series for advertising thereby leaving Formula One.
But it is currently... just a guess.

Trumper

[ElisasAUG]

Certainly looks that way.

[RastusuadegeFrimoum]

The crux of the matter is that alternative fuels, hybrids, and other such projects are developing in sportscar racing, American Le Mans Series specifically, since Audi went the Diesel route two years ago. KERS development and other technologies are now headed to what will be seen as the most advanced racing series on the planet. Don't be suprised if BMW decides to return to prototype racing in a similar way, using their Hyrdogen burning engines.

Meanwhile, Max & Bernie continue to dance around, looking for ways to not utilize these technologies, and unlike their attempts to subtilily undermine Group C, the rules remain safely out of their hands and in those of the ACO & Mr. Panos.

For those who follow motorsport a little more than the simple man in the street Le Mans (and rallying) have emphasised different strengths to F1.

While F1 is a sprint Le Mans is about endurance and reliability, traits that the average customer prizes above all in their street cars. Couple that with an environmentally clean and technically advanced image with various hybrids and other green techs battling it out on the racetrack and Le Mans suddenly becomes a very attractive marketing proposition.

I agree F1 doesn't have a great 'green' image and loves to score own goals (quali laps where the sole point is to burn off more fuel anyone?), Le Mans is in a position to carve a big niche for itself as a premium racing formula for companies with green 'consciences'.

Also Toyota don't 'inevitably succeed', they inevitably leave any formula after it has fulfilled its marketing potential. Given their budget they've underachieved in just about any formula I can remember.

[+++Poguru+++]

For those who follow motorsport a little more than the simple man in the street Le Mans (and rallying) have emphasised different strengths to F1.

While F1 is a sprint Le Mans is about endurance and reliability, traits that the average customer prizes above all in their street cars. Couple that with an environmentally clean and technically advanced image with various hybrids and other green techs battling it out on the racetrack and Le Mans suddenly becomes a very attractive marketing proposition.

I agree F1 doesn't have a great 'green' image and loves to score own goals (quali laps where the sole point is to burn off more fuel anyone?), Le Mans is in a position to carve a big niche for itself as a premium racing formula for companies with green 'consciences'.

Also Toyota don't 'inevitably succeed', they inevitably leave any formula after it has fulfilled its marketing potential. Given their budget they've underachieved in just about any formula I can remember.

Hhmmm.... your last paragraph sums up the history of most automobile manufacturers... entering and then leaving Formula 1, the exception being Ferrari.

The Mfg'rs are there for brand identification and advertising... finishing outside of the top three (year after year) doesn't create the image Marketing is looking for.

I'm sure many of the "Suits" @ Honda and Toyota are wondering if the enormous amount of money spent on racing...

would be better spent in other series.

[HBPujWBe]

Now for those who are a bit more Realistic...

We may be seeing a new Golden Age for Sports Cars.

With all the new sportscar models scheduled to arrive in the next year or two:

Nissan's... GT-R with twin turbo V-6
Honda's... NSX with a new V-10
Toyota's.. F-1 super car also with a V-10(if Bernie allows the use of F-1)
Aston Martin's latest V-12
Corvette's C-6 now entering ALMS GT2
Audi's R-8 with a V-10
BMW's... M3 with V-8 power
Porsche and Ferrari are sure to be competitive

The Mazda Furai recently seen at Detroit is hot. Fingers crossed we'll see this on a the race track!