Toyota Motorsports Festival 2007 at Fuji Speedway!26.11.2007

The Toyota-sponsored racing car event, the “Toyota Motorsports Festival 2007” was held at Fuji Speedway on November 25 (Sunday), 2007. Blessed with clear autumn skies, nearly 30,000 fans came to the circuit to enjoy a full day of events put on by Toyota drivers and guest riders from Yamaha.

The Festival began promptly at 11:00 a.m. with a Welcoming Ceremony. With the magnificent Mt. Fuji capped in pure white, drivers and riders in each category were introduced. Jarno Trulli, Panasonic Toyota Racing driver and Kamui Kobayashi, recently selected as third driver for the F1 team, responded to the loud cheers of the crowd with smiles and waves. With the words, “I now pronounce the Toyota Motorsports Festival 2007 officially open,” Toyota Motor Corporation Vice President Kazuo Okamoto ended the Welcoming Ceremony and started the event.

Jarno immediately climbed into the cockpit of the TF107, driving the opening laps of the Festival. Jarno made three laps around the circuit, where the roar of the F1 exhaust was heard for the first time in Japan since the September Japanese F1 Grand Prix.

Private Anecdotes from F1 Drivers and Toyota Motorsports Leaders

The F1 drivers participated in a talk show held at the special stage built in the main event square. Showing his enthusiasm, Kobayashi said, ”I still don't feel like it's quite real, but I want to help build a strong F1 car, and make my mark in GP2.“ After finishing his opening drive, Jarno hurried to the stage, where he vowed a team comeback for next season, saying, “This season was not an easy one, but we learned many things. I want to take those things and use them for 2008.”

Next, an “Inside Motorsports Development” talk show was held at a stage on the third floor of the pit building. Here, Keizo Takahashi (Manager, Toyota Motorsports) and Noritoshi Arai (Director Technical Coordination, Panasonic Toyota Racing) looked back over 50 years of history at Toyota Motorsports, both revealing private stories about their love for cars, from childhood to today. Both men saw Japan's first F1 grand prix race held in 1976 at Fuji, and both admitted that while F1 engine development, chassis development and team management are difficult tasks that rarely go exactly as planned, they wouldn't want to be doing any other job. Their engineer-worthy comments and enthusiasm for their work and motorsports was definitely communicated to the crowd gathered around.

The Main Feature of the Event! The F1 Demonstration!

At about 2:00 p.m., Jarno and Kobayashi climbed into their F1 cars to present a special F1 demonstration for the crowd. Nose-to-rear, the TF106 and the TF107 completed five laps around the circuit, after which the cars returned to the main stand, turning donuts and giving off copious amounts of tire smoke for the fans.

After the F1 demonstration, Kamui Kobayashi and Kazuki Nakamura, Toyota Young Drivers Program (TDP) Driver, took to the main stage at the event square. Also participating in this talk show was Masanori Sekiya, Team TOM'S director and head of the TDP. Kobayashi spoke about the TDP program provides rewards commensurate with the efforts put in. For his part, Sekiya said, “I am so grateful for the efforts of these young men. They have been able to enter the F1 ring in just the seventh year of this program,” obviously proud of the work accomplished by and the bright future open to his former students.

At just before 4:00 p.m., as the sun began its all-too-soon descent over the full day of activities of the Toyota Motorsports Festival 2007, all of the racing machines and drivers and riders reported to the circuit for an all-hands finale. Greeted by the still-enthusiastic crowd in the stands, the drivers and riders stood patiently, returning the applause with their own waves and smiles.