Toyota Motorsport announces departure of Jens Marquardt

Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) confirms the departure of General Manager Business Development Jens Marquardt and wishes to place on record its sincere thanks for his significant contribution to the company over the past 10 years.

Jens, 43, will leave his position as General Manager Business Development, Operations and Production at the end of the year for a new challenge as BMW Motorsport Director, which is scheduled to begin in January 2011.

TMG President Yoshiaki Kinoshita said: "While we are naturally sad to lose Jens, we can understand why this was an opportunity he felt he had to take and we wish him the very best for his future.

"As well as his valued contribution to our Formula 1 project from beginning to end, Jens has played a key role in TMG's emergence as a leading provider of high-performance engineering services and we are very grateful for his efforts.

"TMG has been aware of Jens' decision for some time. We are taking steps to strengthen our structure and ensure we can build on a very positive first year for TMG as a service supplier."

TMG will confirm its new management structure in the coming weeks.