TOKYO, March 7, 2008 (AFP) - Formula One outfit Toyota say they are all set to end years of disappointment with their new aerodynamic car, ready for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 16.

"You may have heard it before. But I want you to share the excitement of our first victory," Toyota Motor Corp. president Katsuyuki Watanabe said Friday as his company outlined its motorsports programmes for 2008.

"We are steadily improving and I have a stronger belief that we will climb on the podium this year."

Toyota F1 drivers have not won a race since joining European-dominated motorsport in 2002, finishing on the podium six times, with Italian Jarno Trulli in second place twice in 2005. But they have been out of the limelight since Ralf Schumacher placed third in Australia in 2006.

A seeming breakthrough came at pre-season group testing at Circuit de Catalunya, in Spain, last week, when Trulli clocked the fastest time of one minute 20.801 seconds.

Toyota's second driver, Timo Glock of Germany, was 11th fastest among the 19 participating cars.

"Ferrari and McLaren are a cut above the rest of us," Toyota Motorsports chairman Tadashi Yamashina said, analysing results and data from the testing.

"But why we are competitive this year is that the gap between us and Ferrari or McLaren in last year's testing was 1.5-2.0 seconds (per lap). This year, the gap has come down to around 0.7 seconds," he said.

"We will bring in new aeroparts and cut the gap to less than 0.5 seconds and we are working out on the remaining 0.2-0.3 seconds," said Yamashina.

He noted that Toyota's new TF108 car has an improved aerodynamic package. "The car is tenths of a second faster than last year's because of the aero factor alone."

Glock, who replaced Ralf Schumacher at Toyota at the end of last season, said: "We are just much closer to the top teams. But testing and racing are different. We will have to see where we are in the races."

The 25-year-old German, who won the 2007 GP2 - Formula One's feeder championship, added that the new car "is a step in the right direction, much better than last year's car."

"Hopefully, we can be competitive and strong in Australia," he added.