Since April 2015, Toyota have adopted the name of Toyota Gazoo Racing for their various motorsport activities. The team that previously competed under the name of Toyota Racing was therefore introduced this season under the Toyota Gazoo Racing banner. The name change had had no visible impact on the cars – until now.

In 2016, it’s out with the old and in with the new! The team entered in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and 24 Hours of Le Mans will have a brand new logo while the cars will line up in the traditional colours of Gazoo Racing – white, black and red. In endurance racing, these colours were notably sported by the Lexus LFA and Toyota 86 at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

#Toyota #GAZOO Racing has outlined its exciting motorsports lineup for an active 2016! https://t.co/1fkglfmiw9 pic.twitter.com/sKL8UytNZl

— Toyota Motor Corp. (@ToyotaMotorCorp) 4 Février 2016

Toyota Gazoo Racing have proudly announced that “a completely new TS050 Hybrid car has been developed for this season, with significant changes to all areas, including monocoque, engine and hybrid system to meet the team’s ambitious performance targets.” And a new car deserves a new livery!

While Audi lifted the veil on a few details of their new Audi R18 – with an initial black and red livery – last December, Porsche and Toyota had until now been relatively quiet about their 2016 programmes. The cloak of secrecy is undoubtedly best guarded by Toyota as the 2016 WEC season approaches. The Japanese constructor is setting its stall out to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans and is banking on the all-new TS050 Hybrid to triumph at the Circuit de la Sarthe and reclaim the WEC manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles. And if a new car were not enough to convince us of Toyota’s motivation, the change in the colours decorating the bodywork of the two LM P1 prototypes clearly signal a new dawn.

The wind of change has reached the driver lineups too with Kamui Kobayashi promoted to replace Alexander Wurz in the car shared with Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway. The second car will however once again be driven by Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.

Geoffroy Barre
Translated from French by David Goward

Photo: at the press conference to announce the launch of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s 2016 season, the Japanese constructor revealed the livery set to adorn the TS050 Hybrid, here sported by previous model, the TS040 Hybrid.