Toyota team principal Tadashi Yamashina was in tears as the Japanese company announced it has withdrawn from Formula One with immediate effect.

Japan has deserted motorsport on mass during the economic crisis (Honda and Bridgestone to name just two).

Company president Akio Toyoda apologised for the team's failure to record a single race victory since joining F1 in 2002 despite an estimated annual budget of around $300 million.

"It was a very difficult but unavoidable decision," he told a news conference in Tokyo.

The departure opens the door for BMW Sauber's new Swiss owners to take their place on the grid.

PHOTO: Toyota Motorsport Chairman and Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina cries at a news conference at the company's headquarters in Tokyo November 4, 2009 REUTERS/Issei Kato

My nickname among the Reuters photographers in Tokyo is “Crasher”.

They call me that because I always seem to get pictures right at the moment of a crash whenever I cover motorsports.

One colleague sometimes teases me saying “You’ve got to stop pouring oil on the track,” and I answer: ”I would never use oil — I only use banana skins!”

In motorsports the most exciting moment you can capture in a picture is a crash.

That instant can be the difference between life and death, and it’s a picture that is most difficult to capture.

My technique is to pay attention to any unusual movements. Racers usually all try to keep to the same optimum path through a curve.

Any deviation from this can mean a crash may be imminent.

This is how I  caught the full sequence of Dani Pedorasa’s crash in the 2007 MotoGP (top).

In much the same way, in the 2008 Formula One race, I caught the crash of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa as they fought hard for the championship.

But my crash experience at this year’s Formula One Japan Grand Prix was very different.

During qualifying, I heard the voice of our chief photographer crackle over my walkie-talkie, “Toyota crash… Looks serious…”.

I ran to the scene and when I arrived Toyota driver Timo Glock was lying on a stretcher with an oxygen mask.

At that instant, I feared I was looking at something that motorsports fans never want to see happen to the drivers.

But the next moment, Timo Glock’s hand moved, and in a moment he was clearly waving to the crowd as he was put in an ambulance.

As I took another picture I felt my camera’s shutter clicked with a sense of relief.

Photo credits: REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Toyota-owned Fuji's announcement that they are pulling the plug on hosting the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix leaves a question mark over the country's future on the championship calendar.

Fuji had been due to host the race next year as part of an agreement to alternate with Honda-owned Suzuka. However since that deal was done, Honda have pulled out of Formula One and may not have too much of an incentive to pick up the slack.

Kazuki Nakajima is the only current Japanese driver on the starting grid and he is a Toyota protege, racing for Toyota-powered Williams.

Honda pulled out for financial reasons, just as Fuji have now done.

Toyota have yet to win a race since their debut in 2002 but have been much more competitive this season than they were last year. What would Honda gain by picking up the tab for a Japanese grand prix without any of their cars present but that could be won by Toyota?

Asked about the situation on Tuesday, a Honda spokesman said Suzuka had made no decision beyond planning to host the race this year and in 2011 and it was now up to Formula One organisers to decide on the fate of next year's race.

Japan is important to give the championship a truly global feel, particularly now that there are no North American races, and has been on the calendar without fail since 1987.

Commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone will doubtless take it all in his stride, however.

With Korea due to make its debut in 2010, providing they get their circuit built, what are the odds on Japan making way for that country next year in a double-header with China?

PHOTO: In this combination picture, McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain (L, in the first picture) goes into a spin in front of Ferrari' Felipe Massa of Brazil during the Japanese F1 Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, central Japan, October 12, 2008. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

For not seeing a win since joining Formula One in 2002, Toyota’s commitment to the sport is admirable, especially after Honda’s pullout in December left the team the last Japanese standing in the glamour sport.

Toyota have been one of F1’s biggest spenders, with an estimated annual budget of $300 million, previously exceeded only by Honda. But the question for the sport’s perennial underachievers remains just how much cash do they have left to burn?

Team principal Tadashi Yamashima told me on Monday that Toyota had been close to following Honda out of the sport, and the Cologne-based team’s budget has been slashed several times as the world’s No.1 car maker  is set to suffer its first ever annual operating loss.

Honda blamed their own exit from F1 on the need to cut costs and Toyota’s survival in the sport was by no means clear-cut. A renewed sponsorship deal with Japanese electronics giant Panasonic was said to be a factor in their continued F1 presence.

“I had never seen such cost cuts in all my time at Toyota,” Yamashina said, adding that dozens of contract workers lost their jobs as the team was forced to streamline F1 operations.

Still, Toyota are upbeat about their chances in the new season that begins in Melbourne on March 29.

“Our performance in winter testing has been much better than in the past,” Toyota’s German driver, Timo Glock, told me in an interview.