Williams begin testing Toyota engine

The Grove-based team are due to run an interim FW28 car fitted with a Toyota V8 power-unit and gearbox.

The run will give the team an early idea of cooling requirements plus installation and reliability issues that can then be incorporated into their 2007 design. The team's 2007 challenger, the FW29, is likely to run for the first time next January.

Williams are hoping that the move to Toyota engines next year will help them turn the corner after a disappointing 2006 campaign. Despite flashes of speed and several chances of podium finishes, the team are a lowly eighth in the constructors' championship.

Team boss Frank Williams issued a rallying call last week, saying his team were confident of staging a fight back.

"It is much more difficult but I'm not crying on this," he said of his team's season. "We want to beat the others and we can - there is some very good opposition, including six manufacturers, and that's the mountain to climb for us. But it can be done."