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Toyota aims to overtake Honda to hold F1 race with renovated circuit
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2005-03-01 09:28:00
Xinhuanet
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TOKYO, Feb. 28, 2005 (Xinhuanet) -- Toyota revived its engines Monday inhopes of overtaking rival automaker Honda to stage a Formula One race with the opening of a renovated circuit at the Fuji Speedway in central Japan.
Toyota¡¯s F1 driver Ralf Schumacher inaugurated the 4,563-meter course at the foot of Mount Fuji by doing five laps in last year¡¯sTF104 car.
The circuit will formally open with a ceremony on April 10 and its first race will be the Super GT Fuji 500km race on May 3-4.
Toyota executive director Tetsuo Hattori said they would have F1 racing here by any means.
Fuji Speedway president Hisamitsu Shimda told reporters that after the renovation, the main issues before the circuit were transportation and accommodation.
Shimda said they had finally completed the hardware and they would have to reinforce the software.
Toyota upgraded the track with an enlarged paddock meeting F1 specifications, winning approval of a "Grade One" licence by the International Automobile Federation in January.
The younger brother of world champion Michael Schumacher joinedToyota from Williams last season to team up with Italy¡¯s Jarno Trulli, Olivier Panis of France and test driver Ricardo Zonta of Brazil. But Toyota has yet to win a race or title or pole positionor best lap, never finishing on a podium in its 51 appearances in three years.
Toyota, which holds 93.4 percent shares of Fuji International Speedway Co. Ltd., and Honda intensified their motor sports rivalry in 2002 when Toyota made its F1 debut as a full works team.
Honda has its own circuits at Suzuka, 300 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, which has the rights to stage the Japanese Grand Prix until next year, and at Twin Ring Motegi, 100 kilometers north of Tokyo. Honda, which quit F1 racing in 1992 after eight successful years as an engine supplier, made a comeback in 2000 with an engine for British American Racing outfit.
The Fuji Speedway opened in 1965 and staged two F1 races in 1976 and 1977. The latter year saw a spectator and steward killed when a Ferrari driven by Gilles Villeneuve ploughed into the crowdfollowing a shunt from Sweden¡¯s Ronnie Peterson in a Tyrrel.
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