TotalF1 SamB 0 Report post Posted August 8, 2001 Toyota - 11 seconds off the pace, and they aren't worried - they're "developing" new parts...oh dear. This means they're in it up to their necks, and they're trying all-new parts and sacked their design team... Here's hoping they'll find 11 seconds by March!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jagman 0 Report post Posted August 8, 2001 I reckon, 11 seconds...they will be lapped after 7 or so laps! Hope it aint another Lola situation.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
F1Babe 0 Report post Posted August 8, 2001 It really makes my laugh when teams hype themselves up so much and then fail! I think things will get better within Toyota, but i feel they've selected te wrong driver line up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Claire 0 Report post Posted August 8, 2001 Who is this McNish fella anyway, I have never heard of him. Toyota are really going to strugle for a while, but hey at least that will make Minardi look good. kind of like the way Forte did. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TotalF1 SamB 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2001 Top sportscar driver - never quite made it to F1... 2000 he came 2nd at Le Mans and he also won the American Le Mans Series last year for Audi - pretty much dominated the series, that pairing... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeoffandSandy 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2001 I think he also raced in the British 2 litre touring car series with some success. Not that the series is high performance in anything but a technical sense. I Like the comment about opposition for Minardi. Prost will be down there to make it a 3-way contest. If we get the right TV coverage the tail-end racing could be entertaining but we will probably only see Schumi driving off into the distance. Go Ralfie 2002 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daz 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2001 Correct me if I'm wrong - but isn't this the same team that has invested a fortune in development, decided to take a year longer purely for testing etc.. so that they would be competitive. 11 seconds off the pace with 7 months to go really doesn't sound like a good return on their investment to me. Don't you think they should have bought a team like Minardi for a discount price and developed the car from there? Just think - they could have donated all those extra millions of savings to someone needy like me - lol. Seriously though - if they haven't got some magic trick up their sleeves we're going to be see'ing an awful lot of Panasonic advertising every time a Ferrari laps one of them!!! (Assuming they actually qualify of course....) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TotalF1 SamB 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2001 They'll improve considerably, I'm certain of that - we just have to wait for the new Gustav Brunner car to come through, because he can work magic with these things... The unknown is the engine, but these Japanese guys are all so competitive, you can't discount them for long Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ana 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2001 7 seconds sounds like a lot of improvement needed but they have the time to close this gap! Betw I would love to see Minardi not finsihing last as always! nice one Claire! ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeoffandSandy 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2001 Both Barry Sheene & Wayne Gardiner say that as a driver/rider you can't tell the Japanese engineers anything so their vehicles can only improve relative to other Japanese makes. OK in the bikes but in F1 against the best of Europe( GB included) they will experience a different environment. Might explian why the Honda powered F1 cars are so unreliable. 11 seconds in a 60 second lap is 18%. Well outside the 107% cut off which would be about 4 to 5 seconds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ana 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2001 Hey guys if you'd like to se some pics of Toyota and it's pilots go to www.motorsport.com! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites