I'm not sure how much weight to give the story without any confirmation elsewhere, but--
http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5774953,00.html

Since he's under contract with Toyota, this must have been an interesting negotiation (assuming it's true). Remember how Toyota said they refused to give up either grid position? Maybe they *did* in some capacity to Sauber which is what made their entry official? That's theoretically great business to ax your absurdly expensive F1 program and casually walk around behind a "normal" team... maybe I'm giving both sides way too much credit.

We've been discussing it in the new F1 forum. Rumor has been that Koba brings Panasonic with him, so this is definitely a developing story.