Formula One news

Toyota confident new engine will be reliable

Toyota experienced just one engine retirement over 19 race weekends in 2005. Such an enviable record, coupled with the strong performance of Toyota's V10 in its comparatively short F1 history, have provided invaluable foundations for development of the V8 power unit according to Technical Director Engine Luca Marmorini.

"With such strenuous reliability rules, we cannot afford to make jumps in the dark," explains Marmorini. "We cannot compromise the performance of the engine, so we have concentrated on reducing the performance loss. We have a strong core team of engine engineers here at Toyota, built up from six years of F1 engine development. This impassioned teamwork is our advantage and our strongest asset."

Mike Gascoyne is quick to back up his engine counterpart: "Luca and his team have done an exceptional job, which has had a positive knock-on effect for the chassis department, a benefit enhanced by being based at the same factory, under the same roof. Having a pair of TF106s at our disposal for winter testing means that the development of our mechanical package will be significantly advanced."

The new Toyota RVX-06 V8 engine was testbenched for the first time on 21 March 2005, one day after the team scored its debut podium finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Since its first track run at the end of July, the V8 has completed 291 laps over eight separate days, a distance of 2,143km.

"A lot of teething problems have been solved through our ability to get the V8 testing at an early stage," adds Marmorini. "We have gathered a lot of data both on the track and in the factory. On 3 November we completed the required two race weekend mileage in the dyno for the first time and that has permitted us to start our winter testing programme with a fully "raceable" RVX-06 unit. Now our job is to redefine the limits of our engine and to push back the boundaries as much as we can before the new season."

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