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UPDATE 4-Motor racing-Toyota pulls out of Formula One

Wed Nov 4, 2009 3:24pm IST
 
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* Japan's last F1 team quits

* Toyota president apologises for 'failure'

* Continues Japan's motorsport drain

(Adds further quotes, detail)

By Alastair Himmer

TOKYO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Toyota withdrew from Formula One with immediate effect on Wednesday, leaving Japan without a team in motorsport's premier series.

Company president Akio Toyoda apologised for the team's failure to record a single race victory since joining F1 in 2002 despite an estimated annual budget of around $300 million.

"It was a very difficult but unavoidable decision," Toyoda told a news conference in Tokyo. "Since last year as the economic climate worsened we have been struggling with the question of whether to continue in F1.

"We are pulling out of Formula One completely. I offer my deepest apologies to Toyota's many fans for not being able to achieve the results we had targeted."  Continued...

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