Major shakeup at Toyota
A statement said the technical director had been 'suspended' because of a 'fundamental difference of opinion'.
43-year-old Gascoyne, who switched from Renault in 2003, could be the first high-profile casualty of the Japan-owned carmaker's poor start to the 2006 season.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that it may be part of a wider reshuffle, with Pascal Vasselon tipped to take over Gascoyne's top job.
04/04/06 Mike Gascoyne has left his post as technical director for the Toyota Formula 1 team.
The Englishman’s exit is thought to be part of a major shake-up in the management and technical departments at the team, according to sources close to ITV-F1.com.
The nature of Gascoyne’s departure remains undisclosed.
He is believed to have been at odds with some of Toyota’s more senior decision-makers and was not expected to remain with the team beyond the end of his contract, which would have ended this year anyway.
[Editor's Note: Is this surprising? Gascoyne's cars are always slow.]
04/04/06 The word on the street on Tuesday was that there has been a major shake-up at Panasonic Toyota Racing with our sources saying that technical director (chassis) Mike Gascoyne has departed the team. We contacted Gascoyne to see if there was a story. He is saying nothing at all beyond "No comment" and by default one must assume that there is a problem because in normal circumstances Gascoyne would swat away such rumors. More at Grandprix.com