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Is there still life left for Toyota?

Toyota has denied it is to dump its rally operation by the end of the next season

Team boss Ove Andersson denied the claims made by the Japanese manufacturer's motorsport chief, Shinichi Kato, that the marque would focus on F1.

Andersson said, 'There has been no decision yet, as far as I know.

'It's important to note that a delegation of senior management is coming to Finland for the rally.'

Toyota's last WRC win was the 1998 New Zealand Rally, and victory in next month's Finnish event could earn a stay of execution.

'The fact that we haven't won for so long hasn't helped our cause,' Andersson said.

'However, we feel we won in Spain and Corsica this year because we were only beaten by racing cars from Citroen and not genuine world title competitors.'

He added that the tight competition in world rallying might help Toyota to stay, and that the team's 'marketing people' would like to carry on.

In spite of the dearth of victories, the Toyota team lies first in the manufacturers' series by 19 points.

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