TOYOTA RACING (JAP)

President: Toshio Sato
Technical director: Pascal Vasselon
Team principal: Rob Leupen
General manager: Hisatake Murata
Bases: Cologne (D) and Aichi (JAP)
www.toyotahybridracing.com

 

2015 FIA WEC results
Silverstone 6 Hours WEC: 3rd Davidson/ Buemi/Nakajima (GBR/CH/FRA), no. 1 Toyota TS040-Hybrid ; 4th Wurz/ Sarrazin/Conway (AUT/FRA/GB), no. 2 Toyota TS0406hybrid .
SPA Francorchamps 6 Hours WEC: 8th Davidson/ Buemi/Nakajima (GBR/CH/JAP), no. 1 TS040-Hybrid ; 5th Wurz./Sarrazin/Conway (AUT/FRA/GB), no. 2 Toyota TS040-Hybrid.

2016 FIA WEC results

6 Hours of Silverstone: 14th, Trummer/Webb/Rossiter (CHE/GBR/GBR), #4 CLM P1/01 – AER.

WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: 6th, Trummer/Webb/Rossiter (CHE/GBR/GBR), #4 CLM P1/01 – AER.

     The first time a Toyota engine appeared on the Le Mans entry list was back in 1975. Ten years later the Japanese manufacturer was represented by works entries in the Sarthe for the first time. In that era Toyota entrusted its cars to two teams: Tom’s and Dome. This state of affairs lasted two years after which Tom’s became the manufacturer’s official representative. In 1989, the 89 C V with its V8 turbo had its maiden outing, and in 1990 a 90 C V came sixth overall. The following year Toyota did not come to Le Mans as it wasn’t entered for the world championship. In 1992, the manufacturer was back with the 3.5-litre V10 TS010, which finished second behind one of the Peugeot 905s. In 1993, the final year of the 3.5-litre formula, fourth was the best the TS010s could do. In 1994, Toyota was represented by the older generation Group C based 94 C Vs entered by the Sard and Trust teams. The former almost pulled off a surprise win, but M. Martini-Krosnoff-Irvine had to made do with second place behind a Dauer Porsche. In 1995 and 1996 the make’s name was carried by the Supras and the uncompetitive Sards that failed to qualify in 1997.
     In 1998, the factory made its official comeback with the fabulous GT One, whose design and construction was entrusted to Ove Andersson’s T.T.E (Toyota Team Europe), which also ran the car. The prototype team was completely separate from the rally squad competing in the World Rally Championship. The collaboration between Toyota and the former Swedish rally driver, Ove Andersson (winner of the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally in an Alpine) had begun at the RAC in 1972. The following year Andersson set up his own team to race Toyotas and T.T.E was founded in 1975. Based in Cologne the factory employed over 200 people in 1998 and had already racked up an impressive string of results including three World Rally Manufacturers’ (1993, 1994 and 1999) and four Drivers’ titles (Sainz in 1990-92, Kankunnen in 1993 and Auriol in 1994).
      The GT One was inspired by the TS010 and the Peugeot 905 (also designed by André de Cortanze), and the V8 turbo was upgraded by the T.T.E engine division under the direction of Norbert Kreyer. The team made its Le Mans debut in 1998 and nearly created a sensation as the Boutsen-Kelleners-McNish GT One was in the lead with two hours to go to the flag when its transmission failed. T.T.E adapted the car to the 1999 regs (no traction control or ABS) and made a number of modifications, the biggest of which was the steering-wheel mounted gear change. The improved and more reliable GT One tackled the 1999 race as the out-and-out favourite, and it set the quickest time in prequalifying and pole (Brundle) so it looked like nothing could stop the Japanese armada (three cars). Toyota had recently announced its withdrawal from endurance to devote itself to F1. Finally, the surviving GT One saw the flag in second place after a race in which the cars were hit with numerous problems (the gearbox proving to be its Achilles’ Heel), crashes like Boutsen’s huge shunt and a thrown tyre tread near the end of the race for the last of the GT Ones in second place at the time, which probably cost it victory. Toyota threw in the towel and T.T.E became Toyota Motorsport GmbH. In 2002, the Toyota F1 Team made its Formula 1 debut where it stayed until 2009 without winning even a single grand prix and no world titles despite a huge investment. Once the F1 chapter had been closed, the Japanese manufacturer, pioneer in Japan in the field of hybrid engine technology, saw that the Le Mans regulations offered it the right playing field to used this knowledge and got down to preparing its return to endurance in secret.
     In 2011 and 2012 it supplied engines to Rebellion Racing while working on its own prototype developing both the engine and chassis. It announced its official return to endurance in the autumn of 2011 with the stated aim of winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2013 at the latest. The programme included the entry of a TS030 hybrid for the full 2012 season and two cars for the Le Mans 24 Hours with the backing of Oreca for the race organisation. Toyota, though, lacked preparation and did not take part in the Sebring 12 Hours. It was also forced to give Spa a miss as its development programme had been delayed following an accident in testing on the Paul Ricard circuit. Thus, the TS030 made its race debut in the Le Mans 24 Hours with two driver line-ups combining speed and experience. In no. 7 were Wurz (ex-Peugeot), Lapierre (ex-Oreca) and Nakajima (ex-F1 and Toyota Super GT) while in no. 8 were three ex-F1 drivers Davidson (Peugeot in 2010 and 2011) Buemi, and Sarrazin also from Peugeot. The Toyotas proved very quick and took the fight to Audi early on in the race. Unfortunately, just after no. 7 had snatched the lead after a superb battle with the no. 1 Audi, Anthony Davidson in no. 8 had a huge accident when his car was tagged by a back-marker. The surviving Toyota then had a nightmare race after colliding with the DeltaWing on the restart: it was in and out of the pits with a raft of problems before retiring in the middle of the night (engine failure). However, the Japanese make ended the season in a blaze of glory with three wins on the trot (Sao Paolo, Mount Fuji and Shanghai) in the five remaining races.

 

     For the 2013 season Toyota decided to enter two cars for all the WEC rounds and arrived at Le Mans in a much better state of preparation. At Silverstone the 2012 version of the TS030 was no match for the latest Audis. A single 2013 model was entered for the Spa-Francorchamps round backed up by the 2012 car. The new version of the TS030 proved quick and led the race until it retired with a problem in its hybrid system. The 2012 car was again dominated by the R18 e-tron quattros. At Le Mans the Toyota TS030s had an almost trouble-free race and missed out on victory by a single lap. While first place went to the no. 2 Audi, which had a trouble-free run, Toyota was unable to exploit its strategy based on greater fuel autonomy because of the many neutralisation periods in the event. No. 7 suffered a fuel feed problem early on but by Sunday morning it was back battling for third place until Nicolas Lapierre was caught out by a shower in the Porsche curves and went off. He got the car back to the pits where the Toyota mechanics rebuilt the front end in record time and no. 7 finished fourth 7 laps behind the winner. As in 2012 Toyota Motorsport, which was hard at work of the new TS040, provided the team with a sprint version of the TS030 for the latter part of the season. A single car was entered for the Brazilian round in which it was eliminated after being punted off by a wayward LM P2. Audi won in the USA. Toyota scored its first victory in Japan in a race shortened by rain and looked on course to repeat its success in China until various glitches handed the race to its German rival. However, the Japanese team finished the season on a high note with a dominant win in the last round, the Bahrain 6 Hours.

     In 2014 Toyota arrived for the first race with its latest weapon the TS040  Hybrid, which had undergone a thorough test programme in secret both on the track and in simulations. A second hybrid system that had already been run in 2012 was installed on the front drive train coupled to the KERS mounted beside the V8 petrol engine, which gave the drivers an instant 1000 bhp power boost for a short time with reduced fuel consumption as required by the regulations without harming the car’s performance. The TS040 benefitted from 4-wheel drive and was very agile no matter what the track conditions as proved by its back-to-back victories at Silverstone and Spa against Audi and Porsche, the Japanese manufacturer’s old rival after their battle in 1998, back for its new Le Mans campaign.

     The excellent start to the season made Toyota favourite to win Le Mans 24 Hours. However, having started in pole position and led the race for several hours, the Japanese team couldn’t hold on until the finish. The Le Mans jinx struck again and the #8 retired at 05:00 on Sunday morning when it caught fire. Toyota made up for a bitter disappointment by dominating the rest of the season and swiping the manufacturer and driver trophies.

     By now obsessed with winning Le Mans, they completely reworked the TS040 Hybrid, rethinking the aerodynamics and improving the hybrid system. But 2015 proved to be another disappointment. The car was clearly no match for its rivals, its reliability could not make up for evident under-performance. Toyota had to be content with two podiums in 2015, one of which was rather special: a second Le Mans win for Alexander Wurz just before he retired from racing. Early in the season, preliminary work began on a new car for 2016, the TS050 Hybrid.

     Out with supercapacitors and natural aspiration. In with lithium-ion batteries to stock braking energy, and a V6 turbo engine. The Japanese manufacturer retained the two brake energy recovery systems. At the season-opener, the new prototype was a few seconds slower in the qualifying sessions but considerably narrowed the gap as the race progressed. In the end, Silverstone was the scene of the first podium for the Toyota TS050 Hybrid and for Wurz’s replacement, former Toyota Formula One driver Kamui Kobayashi. The Japanese driver, who raced an LM GTE Pro Ferrari at Le Mans in 2013, and codrivers Mike Conway and Stéphane Sarrazin moved up to share the third step when the winning Audi was disqualified. Davidson, Buemi and Nakajima in the #5 were less fortunate.

A puncture severely damaged the back of the car and the mechanics had to work hard to enable the team to finish 17th overall.

     The sun shined at Spa, but the TS050 Hybrids were shrouded in gloom, both with engine problems. Kazuki Nakajima was in the lead with two hours to go when the car started smoking. Hopes of victory were dashed but the crew had covered 70% of the distance when the incident occured and were able to cross the finish line in 26th place, enough to pocket 12 precious championship points. The #6 retired half way through the race. It has to be said that Conway had already hampered chances by incurring a penalty for avoidable contact. However, all is not lost in the Japanese camp as the qualifying times were much more promising. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans though, reliability is key.

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