By Huw Alban
February 1 2006

In the next of a stream of positive messages to be released by MF1, Sporting Director Adrian Burgess has talked at length about the fruitful and growing relationship that the team shares with engine supplier Toyota. For complete correctness the news article released on the MidlandF1.com website is given below, then I’ll give you my take on it.


TOYOTA: A PERFECT ENGINE PARTNER (31. 1. 2006 )

MF1 Racing heads into the 2006 season secure in the knowledge that it will enjoy great service from engine partner Toyota.

Last season was characterised by the superb finishing record of the EJ15, owing in no small part to the reliability of Toyota’s V10. This year, MF1 Racing will use the same new V8 used by the works team, and everyone at Midland is relishing the prospect.

Toyota was among the first manufacturers to get its prototype V8 onto the track, and was also the first to test it in a definitive 2006 car, way back in November. MF1 will clearly benefit from the extensive development already performed by Toyota engine wizard Luca Marmorini and his team.

“Toyota are fantastic,” says MF1 Sporting Director Adrian Burgess. “The service we get from a customer point of view is second to none. You couldn’t go and buy a better package than what we’ve got. The fact that they are such a big and committed team obviously helps us, as we quickly see the results of the development they’re putting into their own engine.

“They have so much technology and so many resources that are becoming more and more available to us as our relationship with Toyota grows. Some of the things that are being offered to us are fantastic, and I could not imagine receiving that sort of technical support from another supplier.”

Having a second team on the grid will, of course, enable Toyota to amass a lot of mileage with the V8, and that, in turn, will speed up development.

“For sure,” says Burgess. “We experienced issues with our engine last year that they learned from, and it helped them to improve their engine. All the information we gather is useful to them, as well.”

MF1’s design team were given the dimensions and specifications of the new engine at a very early stage, allowing them to develop the new M16 around it. In contrast, last year’s Toyota V10 had to be shoehorned into a modified Jordan chassis that had originally been designed to take a Cosworth.

“Information was exchanged with our drawing office as soon as the deal was confirmed. We’ve had mock-up engines since around August or September, and we began running it in the interim car in the middle of December. Toyota have been very helpful with our installation.”

Of course, one of the most fascinating aspects of the relationship is that the M16 and Toyota’s own TF106 will not only be powered by the same engine, the will also run on the same Bridgestone tyres. No other teams in this year’s championship share both of those key elements.

“It’s going to be very interesting,” adds Burgess, smiling confidently.


OK, so from a fan perspective what does this mean ? Well, this fan is particularly encouraged especially as I didn’t even consider the fact that both Midland and Toyota are running the same tyres (and add that to yesterdays news that all Bridgestone teams are sharing technical tyre information).

Reading this, it strikes me that this relationship is a little more than ‘warm and cuddly’ – these two are really working together. The other thought that flashed across my mind is that you could almost see Midland as a sort of No.2 Toyota team. I know that the team themselves would probably recoil in horror at the thought (and it certainly wouldn’t go down well with the marketing department), but to my mind this is the sort of relationship that Midland are enjoying. I don’t think it’s a bad thing either – Toyota were by far the most improved team on the grid last year, and the experiences gained will benefit Midland no end.

This fan likes what he reads today. We’ve been saying for months now that Midland appear to have all the ingredients in place to spring a surprise or two this year, and articles like this just help no end to add weight behind that statement.

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