JUNE 30, 2000
Toyota officially confirm 2002 entry
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) officially confirmed its 2002 entry into the Formula One world championship on Friday.
TMC have accelerated its research and development plans in a bid to secure the 12th and final slot for the Formula One season.
TMC president Ove Andersson said: "We set our original engineering program to race in 2002. We are now well on schedule and can confirm that we will hit the target.
"With the full support of the FIA, we are making an all-out effort in our development and we are very pleased with the initial progress.
"It is always clear that this is going to be a huge task, but we are still totally focused, and eagerly looking forward to getting behind the wheel in the actual competition."
Toyota will independently develop its own engine and racecar chassis to qualify as a F1 works team.
The full-scale testing of Toyota's first F1 machine will start in spring 2001 in preparation for a place on the 2002 starting grid.