SEPTEMBER 19, 2000

Toyota fire up first V10 engine

Toyota on Monday took another major step towards their Formula One debut in 2002 as they fired up their V10 engine for the first time at their Cologne base.

In front of team president Ove Andersson, technical director Andre De Cortanze and engine chief Norbert Kreyer, the power unit was fired up at 10.00 in the morning local time.

"I am very happy with our progress so far and this engine firing was very important for us all," said Andersson. "We now feel that we have the heart of the car beating and this is good for our motivation."

The entire V10, three-litre engine was built in-house and ran without a problem. The team now aim to build replica engines, which will then be married to chassis before the entire car is launched in March, 2001.

Finn Mika Salo and Briton Allan McNish will then test the car ahead of its introduction onto the Formula One grid in March, 2002.

Kreyer added: "This was a big moment for the engine department but it is too early to get too excited. There is still a lot of work to do on the test bench before we are ready to test on the track next year but of course I am happy that we now have our first engine running."