Trulli has scored two second places in three races this season

That is the view of technical director Mike Gascoyne, the man responsible for the team's transformation from backmarkers to front-runners.

"A lot of people are saying: 'Can you win a race?' Well, why not?" the 42-year-old Englishman told BBC Sport.

"We've finished the last two races behind (Renault's) Fernando Alonso. If he'd retired, we'd have won both."

Gascoyne admits that "Renault are slightly quicker than us", but is confident Toyota are now competitive enough to have a strong chance of winning on merit.

He pointed out that Alonso's Renault team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella had failed to finish both races with problems that could easily have hit Alonso.

The Ferrari is going to be competitive, but it's not going to be dominant like it has been Mike Gascoyne Toyota technical director

"In the last two races, Renault have scored 20 points and we've scored 25," he said.

He added that Ferrari should not be written off despite their disastrous start to the season.

"Their car is going to be competitive, but it's not going to be dominant like it has been recently," he said.

"Ferrari will come up and win races, for sure. McLaren will probably win a race or two. But if they win a race, Toyota will probably win two or three."

After three years of underachievement since their debut in 2002, Toyota have been the revelation of the season this year.

That transformation has been brought about under the leadership of Gascoyne, who joined the team from Renault in December 2003.

Expectations are obviously very high now but we have to keep our feet on the ground Jarno Trulli

This year's Toyota is the first to be designed completely by the revamped technical department he has created.

Toyota driver Jarno Trulli said he was hopeful of another strong result at the San Marino Grand Prix this weekend.

"Before the start of the 2005 season I never thought I'd be coming back to Europe in second place in the world championship," Trulli said.

"Expectations are obviously very high now but we have to keep our feet on the ground.

"Despite the fact that I'm racing at home, I'm not a particular fan of the Imola circuit.

"The weather will be colder than the last two races and in the past Toyota has struggled over the kerbs.

"Still, the TF105 has improved a lot and with further aerodynamic updates coming for the weekend, we should aim to score more points. That would be a good result."