JUNE 10, 1996
Goto to go to Ford
FERRARI's head of engine research and development Osamo Goto is tipped to be leaving Maranello to take up a new position, helping Cosworth Engineering to develop the new Ford V10 engine.
The engine has been pretty reliable this year but is at least 50-80 horsepower down on its major rivals, which means that Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Johnny Herbert have been handicapped considerably this year.
Goto is a good catch for Ford. The 47-year-old from Tokyo worked with Honda between 1970 and 1991 - including six years as leader of Honda's F1 operation. He then moved to McLaren to a rather unclear role as engineering executive. He quickly tired of this and joined Ferrari in January 1994 to work with the team developing the new V10 engine.
There are many in F1 who feel that Goto will ultimately return to Honda to lead the company's next assault into F1. This is expected to be in 1998. So, while Ford and Cosworth may gain from Goto's knowledge in the short-term, inside information from McLaren, Ferrari and Cosworth may end up being very useful for Honda if Goto does return to the fold.