Richard Cregan to leave Toyota
Toyota Motorsport GmbH confirms that Team Manager Richard Cregan will leave his position at the end of November. Richard, 48, has decided to move on and take an exciting new role elsewhere within motorsport, ending his stay at Toyota Motorsport GmbH 24 years after joining as a rally mechanic. More details of Richard's new position will be confirmed in due course.
He became operations manager for Toyota's programmes in the World Rally Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours. When the Formula 1 project was announced he assisted Ove Andersson in making the plan a reality and became General Manager F1 Operation in 2002 before stepping up to Team Manager in 2004.
Richard will be replaced as Team Manager by Jens Marquardt, who has been at Toyota Motorsport GmbH since 2000, working in the engine engineering department.
Jens played a key role in developing Toyota's first Formula 1 engines and became Group Leader Engine Track Test Engineering in 2003. He was also a significant figure in the smooth start-up of Toyota's engine supply to Williams and has been Manager Engine Customer Supply since August 2006.
Chairman and Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina said: "We are very sad to be losing a team member of Richard's qualities but we understand his reasons and we wish him the very best of luck in his new challenge.
"Richard played an important part in Toyota Motorsport's history. We salute his numerous achievements, which include providing a positive working environment at the factory and at tracks around the world as well as implementing the Toyota Way in Formula 1, where we have achieved significant progress in areas such as pit stops and car operations.
"Looking to the future I am delighted Jens will take this new opportunity, which he thoroughly deserves. Jens has been with our company for eight years and is a valuable team member who has shown great ability and a positive attitude. He has a suitable amount of time to learn his new tasks from Richard and we are confident the transition will be a smooth one."
