The 2008 Formula One Toyota Grand Prix challenger was launched this week.  Regular Toyota driver Jano Trulli will be joined on the team by the 2007 GP2 Champion Timo Glock. The heavily funded team is under pressure to perform by 2011.

A day after rivals Ferrari unveiled their new contender, McLaren International launched their 2008 F1 Grand Prix car – the MP4-23. The car will be driven by last year’s rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton and new team mate Heikki Kovalainen.

Full coverage of the launch can be found here, here and here.

The Mclaren cars will carry numbers 22 and 23, the lowest on the grid, as a result of the team being stripped of all Constructors points in last year’s spying scandal.

The Ferrari F1 Grand Prix car for 2008 to be driven by Word Champion Kimi Raikkonen and team mate Felipe Massa was launched this week.

Full coverage of the launch can be found here, here, and here.

The first on track test sessions are covered here.

Reg Parnell is perhaps best rememberd as a Team Manager in various motor sports arenas, but started out as a very sucessful driver. Parnell’s racing career started before World War II with victories driving several marques including Bugattis.  When racing resumed after the war so did Parnell’s career, with the Englishman progressing up to competing in 7 World Championship Grand Prix between 1950 and 1954. He continued competing in non-championship F1 races up to retirment from driving in 1957. (below Parnell in a Ferrari at the 1957 New Zealand GP)

In the early sixties Parnell manged the Yeoman Racing F1 team, with drivers John Surtees and Roy Salvadori, and the Le Mans winning Aston Martin team. In 1962 he set up Reg Parnell Racing but died of peritonitis in 1964 before the team became fully established. The Parnell racing team was taken over by his son Tim and continued until 1970.

Willy T. Ribbs -  3rd January 1956

Perhaps the best known African-American driver who over the years competed in many forms of racing. After retiring, he became a sport shooter in the National Sporting Clays Association.

Willy was born in San Jose, California,  and  after his graduating high school in 1975,  he moved to Europe to compete in the Formula Ford Series. He won the Dunlop Championship in his first year of competition, then returned to the United States. NASCAR owner Will Cronkite hired Ribbs to drive his Winston Cup car, but fired him after Ribbs skipped two practice sessions. Ribbs went on to race Formula Atlantic cars, winning the pole in the Long Beach Formula Atlantic race in 1982.

The following year, Ribbs won five races in the SCCA Trans-Am Series and was honored as Pro Rookie of the Year. Ribbs would attempt NASCAR again in 1986, running three races.

Here’s  onboard footage of Willy T. Ribbs driving an IMSA GTO Toyota around the temporary circuit at Del Mar Fairgrounds in 1988.

Also in 1986, Ribbs drove a Formula One car, when he tested for the Brabham team. In 1990, Ribbs joined the CART circuit in a car owned by comedian Bill Cosby. Ribbs had two top-10 events that season, and in 1991, he became the first African-American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. He raced there a second time in 1993. After being released from the team in 1994, he continued in the CART series with another two top 10 finishes.

In 1999, Ribbs raced in an Indy Racing League event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing 26th after a crash. After three top-10s in the SCCA in 2000, Ribbs signed to drive in the Craftsman Truck Series. Driving 23 out of 24 races, Ribbs had a best finish of 13th, and finished 16th in points.

 The official Willy T. Ribbs website.

Other Driver Birthdays today

• Russell Spence F3000 and occasional F1 driver (1960)
• Michael Schumacher  – Seven Times F1 World Champion (1969)