Toyota hopes its new Formula One car will allow the team to move near the front of the grid and to stay there for good.
``My hopes are always high because normally I am very positive,'' driver Jarno Trulli said at Thursday's presentation of the car. ``I think that the team has got the potential, the resources, the people and everything necessary to bounce back to the position where we belong.''
The Japanese manufacturer is coming off a poor season, having finished sixth in the constructors' championship with only 13 points overall in 2007.
``Our clear target in 2008 is to make a big improvement in our results because we were not satisfied with our performance last year,'' said team boss Tadashi Yamashina, who took over in mid-season last year. ``We expect to have a truly competitive car so our drivers should be aiming to finish in the points regularly and challenging for the podium. ... Of course, our ultimate target is the middle step of the podium. We are in Formula One to win and we want to do that soon.''
The key features of the new TF108 are a longer wheelbase, a major aerodynamic upgrade, revised suspension and a new gearbox.
``I have been giving input into this car since the middle of the 2007 season, helping to develop the car to adapt to the new rules which ban traction control and engine braking,'' Trulli said. ``There is quite a big change in terms of electronics this year and I have spent time working with the team on this. I am doing all I can in order to help the team to step up.''
German driver Timo Glock, who has replaced his countryman Ralf Schumacher, said he ``couldn't wait'' for the season to start.
``I aim to be consistent and to help the team move upward. My first goal will be to regularly challenge for points and I believe we will be able to do that,'' Glock said. ``Even though I have not raced in Formula One since 2004, I have tested quite regularly so I expect it will take very little time for me to get back in the groove.''
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