The Toyota TF 107 will be co-sponsored by Kingfisher Airlines Toyota has launched its F1 car for the upcoming Formula One season, the Toyota TF 107. Toyota hopes to make a serious bid for the championship this time with the latest TF 107. The car was unveiled in Cologne, Germany. 
Toyota has had six frustrating years in the Formula One Circuit so far. The company hopes to break the jinx with the Toyota TF 107. Ralf Schumacher, brother of legendary F1 racer Michael Schumacher will be driving the new Toyota Formula One car TF 107. "Toyota is hungry for the first victory," he said. Ralf was the only Toyota driver who had a podium finish last year. However, the Toyota TF 107 is not an all-new F1 car. It has the same engine as its predecessor, but comes equipped with better aerodynamics, suspension and gear shift. After testing the car, Ralf said that this is only the third F1 car with which he was completely satisfied after the first testing. Along with Ralf, Toyota will be racing team mate Jarno Trulli. The 2007 F1 season starts with the Australian GP on March 18 in Australia. In five years, Toyota has spent more than a billion dollars into race car development. The Toyota TF 107 was presented to a gethering of 500 people on Friday. Of all the 11 F1 racing teams, Toyota is the first to present its Formula One car for the season, now named Toyota TF 107. Also, Toyota is the only team to stick with all racers of the previous season. Toyota also offered an apology for failing to win last year's Formula One title. "We made an unfortunate announcement about our first win just one year ago. We failed to succeed. We want to apologise to our worldwide fans and sponsors," said a Toyota official. No parts have been carried over from the last year. There is also a better launch system. Meanwhile, India's Kingfisher has joined hands with Toyota TF 107 for its upcoming racing season as one of the sponsors. The deal is worth Rs 40 crore in Indian rupees. The Kingfisher sponsorship for Toyota TF 107 is for a period of two years. Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya expressed hope that the Toyota TF107 will come up tops in the first year itself. After Ferrari, Mallya said, Toyota is the only team to have a superlative engineering department. With the Toyota F1 association, Mallya awaits a tremendous boost for his Kingfisher brand. "None of my competitors have this kind of association," he told The Times of India. Kingfisher is India's beer-to-airline conglomerate, one of the world's largest spiriti manufacturers. The group runs India's premium airline Kingfisher Airlines. This is also the largest sports deal signed by the airline so far. According to Kingfisher, the red and white colours of the Toyota matches well with the colors of Kingfisher. As part of the sponsorship deal, Kingfisher will be promoting the Toyota F1 car TF 107 in all its flights and on the ground. There will be contests for its travellers to watch F1 and even meet with the Toyota TF 107 F1 drivers. Kingfisher will also put up replicas of the TF 107 in select cities in India. This is the first time an Indian airline is sponsoring the Toyota F1 car team. However, two years back, India's Tata group had sponsored Narain Karthikeyan, who drove for Jordan. Currently, Narain is a test driver for Williams. Technorati tags: Formula One, ToyotaLabels: Formula One, Toyota |
