Toyota’s driver, Jarno Trulli, has called off a PR stopover in Japan because he is ill. The news agency Reuters has suggested that Trulli has a high fever and may not make it to the season opener in Melbourne at the weekend. Trulli is still in Europe and doctors have said it is better for him to travel direct to Australia from Europe rather than make an extra stop in Japan.

Tsutomu Tomita, Toyota’s team principal, is not worried. “I think he should be alright. We’re not too worried - it’s hardly life-threatening.”

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