Formula 1: New Year, New Car

The team has also been strengthened in its quest for success by the arrival of George Tadashi Yamashina, who took over as vice chairman of Toyota Motorsport in December 2006. Yamashina will compliment the roles of Tomita and PRT President John Howett, forming a management trio tintent on leading PTR to success. Yamashina notes, "We have improved in all areas: aerodynamics, suspension and gear change."

"Our ambition has always been to win. That, to me, is why we are here and why we are racing," agrees Howett. "I think we built a fairly good platform in 2005, and last year we didn't move forward sufficiently from that platform. I think in terms of speed, we had the third-quickest package on the grid. Looking at race pace and qualifying pace, we were closing the gap on Renault toward the end of the season, but Ferrari was still in front. Although the results didn't show it last year, I think we are now capable of running with the top teams in terms of speed." 

Although the team had a frustrating 2006 season, in the spirit of the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen, or "continuous improvement," the new car benefits from all the knowledge and experience gained. With the right people in place and the will to win, the TF107 is the product of the team's potential.

While there is continuity in other areas, the TF107 is a completely new car, with virtually no parts carried over from the TF106 and TF106B that preceded it. "We have addressed reliability this year," Howett confirms. "And we have resolved issues like the launch system - which we fixed at the end of last season, and which cost us dearly. We're improving the car, flat out, all the time.

"It's pretty extensively changed in terms of basic layout," Howett continues. "When we went from the V10 to the V8, the back of the engine effectively stayed in the same place, and the chassis and fuel tank filled the space where the front two cylinders of the V10 were. Now we've moved to engine forward, and yet worked really hard to still have a big tank. The gearbox is longer, and we will run a seamless shift for the first time."

Aerodynamics is also a big focus, he says, with a lot of the chassis layout designed to give better aero opportunity. 

"The whole monocoque concept has been modified in terms of height and how it sits," Howett explains. "Before it was quite a low car; now it's higher. We have improved the suspension, and we have some interesting developments in the pipeline that we hope will give us performance."

In 2006, Toyota made the switch to Bridgestone tires, giving PTR a head start in cooperating for when the Japanese tire manufacturer becomes the sole supplier this year. The experience gained in adapting to new tires will benefit the team and help PTR get the maximum performance possible. 

"By going to a single tire supplier, we have learned a lot about tire treatment, particularly in regard to their interaction with temperature, suspension geometry, chassis and down force," Tomita says.

(Source: Toyota Motorsport GmbH)