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Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is conducting the Toyota Young Drivers Program (TDP) with the participation of promising young drivers to identify and cultivate new talent and support their continuous improvement. This program is aimed to foster drivers who hope to compete in top racing categories, both in Japan and throughout the world. The program will continue support the activities of participating drivers through a process of selection and improvement in each category in 2007.
Reference: History of TDP
The TDP was established in 2000 as a part of the Formula Toyota Racing School (FTRS), a hands-on racing school that TMC has been operating for some time in Japan, to discover and cultivate talented young drivers through scholarships. In 2001, TMC then created the Toyota Drivers Academy (TDA) to foster young drivers overseas. The two programs were integrated in 2005 under the name Toyota Young Drivers Program (TDP), allowing centralized management of activities.
In 2006, the TDP supported participation in Europe in the GP2 series as well as the F3 Euro series, a gateway to F1, and the Formula Renault 2.0 series, an introductory category. In Japan, the TDP supported drivers in the All Japan F3 Championship, which gathers those aiming to participate in the top categories in the future, the ESSO Formula Toyota series, an introductory formula series and Formula Challenge Japan (FCJ), which were created in 2006 to foster young drivers. In total, 15 drivers have developed their abilities through participation.