Toyota 2006 Annual Report Download - page 58

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Motorsports
We participate in motorsports whole-
heartedly to let people the world over
feel the endless possibilities, wonder,
and fun that cars offer. In 2006, our
main motorsports events are the
Formula One World Championship,
NASCAR* in the United States, and the
Super GT World Challenge in Japan.
In F1, the zenith of world motor
racing, we made solid progress in
2005—achieving the podium placing we
had set our sights on and ranking fourth
in the Constructors’ Championship. In
2006, our fifth season of F1 racing,
we aim to achieve our first victory and
to accumulate points steadily. To those
ends, we have introduced a new F1
car, the TF106, that is compliant with
new vehicle regulations, and we are
using the same drivers as last season:
Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher.
After debuting in NASCAR with our
Tundra pickup truck in 2004, we
picked up nine victories in the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series in the 2005
season. Moreover, we have decided to
field the Camry in the 2007 Nextel Cup
Series and the Busch Series.
Also, we continue to sponsor six
teams racing in the top echelon of
Japanese motorsports, the Super GT
World Challenge. Further, we have raised
the Toyota banner in Japan’s elite for-
mula car category by supplying engines
to seven Formula Nippon teams.
Further, we continue to foster racing
drivers capable of competing at the
highest levels of motorsports in Japan
and overseas through the promotion
of the Toyota Driver Development
Program, which scouts highly motivat-
ed, talented individuals and, in line with
their ability, helps them move up the
ladder of international motorsports.
* NASCAR is the common name for the
stock car races administered over by the
National Association for Stock Car Auto
Racing (NASCAR), the largest motor-
sports organization in the United States.
Converted four-wheel commercial vehi-
cles known as stock cars race mainly in
North America.
Fuji International Speedway Co., Ltd., in which Toyota has a 93.4% stake, and
Formula One Administration Ltd., which controls the rights for holding F1
events, agreed to hold the Japanese F1 Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway in
October 2007.
As one of only a handful of ultrahigh-speed circuits in the world, Fuji
Speedway has staged numerous international and domestic races since open-
ing in 1966, including the first two Japanese F1 Grand Prix in 1976 and 1977.
We completed a comprehensive renovation of the circuit in 2005, and
the Federation Internationale de
l’Automobile has already granted the
circuit a grade 1 license—required for
all F1 race venues. Next year will wit-
ness the first grand prix at Fuji
Speedway for three decades.
Fuji Speedway to Host the 2007 Japanese F1 Grand Prix