Toyota engine 'among the best'

The Japanese car maker has held a reputation for building powerful engines since entering F1 in 2001. With the RVX-05 being a direct evolution of last year's powerplant - widely considered to be one of the strongest parts of the team's 2004 package - Toyota is expecting to start the season "with at least the same amount of power that it ended the last one".

"Fundamentally it's the same engine," said Marmorini. "We have had to go right through it examining each component to see if can last the distance and then change and develop where necessary.

"Because of the change in regulations, the RVX-05 is an evolution. We wanted to have enough time to modify long-lead time parts like crankshafts and blocks, so we started working early last year to a two-race engine.

"Every part has had to go through extensive reliability testing on the transient dynos to ensure the engine can last for two race weekends. Like 2004, we have had to double the mileage of the engine without compromising the performance of the unit.

"A hybrid version of the RVX-05 with 2004-specification fixation points was fired up on the dyno in July 2004, giving us ample time for fine-tuning and further development before its first run with the 2005 specification fixation points in the TF105.

Toyota has already tested the first version of the engine as early as September of last year.

"The first track tests with the hybrid version were very promising," said Marmorini, "and I believe that the Toyota RVX-05 will be among the very best engines in Formula 1 in 2005."