Three former Toyota Motorsport officials have been charged with
industrial espionage, the Reuters news agency is reporting.
All were high-level personnel from the Japanese outfit: team
principal Ove Andersson, chief designer Gustav Brunner and Rene
Hilhorst, head of aerodynamics.
The three men are accused of violating German competition law by
using a data analysis programme brought over by a technician who
moved from Ferrari to Toyota in early 2002, Cologne prosecutors
revealed in a statement earlier today.
The Toyota officials are alleged to have used the programme to
develop their cars in 2002 and 2003 in the knowledge that they had
obtained the software illegally.
A Toyota spokeswoman confirmed the identity of the three
individuals, but distanced the company from the specific charges
being brought.
Toyota Motorsport has not been formally notified of the above
matter and does not have full knowledge of the specific issues,
she said.
Toyota Motorsport would like to stress that the charges have not
been brought against the company.
For this reason, Toyota wishes to refrain from further comment,
but remains confident that the situation will be resolved with a
positive conclusion for those involved.
Andersson was head of the Toyota F1 team in 2002-03, its first two
years in the sport.
