Photo: Toyota
The new Toyota TS040 Hybrid endurance racecar got unveiled last week amazing us with its revamped aerodynamics, four-wheel drive and around 1,000 hp coming out of its hybrid powertrain. But before this, Toyota had three other WEC-spec cars, which can now be seen inside the Toyota Motorsport GmbH museum in Germany.
With the retired racecar number being incremented to three now, let’s take another look at these amazing machines.
The first one is the Toyota TS010, which was developed in association with TOM’S ahead of the 1993 Le Mans 24 Hours. During its time, this model won three races and posted four fastest times on the tracks it raced. The #36 car you’ll see in the pictures was taken to a fourth-place finish by Eddie Irvine, Toshio Suzuki and Massanori Sekiya.
Sliding the time cursor further and the Toyota TS020 (also know as the GT-One) debuts in 1998 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The model posted three lap records but didn’t manage to achieve the victory. The #29 car here drove by Thierry Boutsen, Ralf Kelleners and Geoff Lee came close to winning but had to retire due to gearbox failure. The other Zent-liveried TS020 of Martin Brundle, Emmanuel Collard and Vincenzo Sospiri was taken down by a tire puncture around midnight at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The TS020 got also famous because Toyota had to make two road-going cars in order to meet the rules. One of them is now in Japan, while the other is showcased at the Toyota Motorsport GmbH museum.
Finally, in 2012 the Toyota TS 030 Hybrid came around, promising to further push gasoline-electric powertrains into motorsport. Drove by Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima, the car managed to stay very close to the Audi R18 e-tron. It’s sister car was driven by the second team of Sebastien Buemi, Stephane Sarrazin and Anthony Davidson. Despite staying very close to the Audi R18 e-tron, neither of them won the Le Mans due to mechanical problems and even an accident.
The first one is the Toyota TS010, which was developed in association with TOM’S ahead of the 1993 Le Mans 24 Hours. During its time, this model won three races and posted four fastest times on the tracks it raced. The #36 car you’ll see in the pictures was taken to a fourth-place finish by Eddie Irvine, Toshio Suzuki and Massanori Sekiya.
Sliding the time cursor further and the Toyota TS020 (also know as the GT-One) debuts in 1998 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The model posted three lap records but didn’t manage to achieve the victory. The #29 car here drove by Thierry Boutsen, Ralf Kelleners and Geoff Lee came close to winning but had to retire due to gearbox failure. The other Zent-liveried TS020 of Martin Brundle, Emmanuel Collard and Vincenzo Sospiri was taken down by a tire puncture around midnight at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The TS020 got also famous because Toyota had to make two road-going cars in order to meet the rules. One of them is now in Japan, while the other is showcased at the Toyota Motorsport GmbH museum.
Finally, in 2012 the Toyota TS 030 Hybrid came around, promising to further push gasoline-electric powertrains into motorsport. Drove by Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima, the car managed to stay very close to the Audi R18 e-tron. It’s sister car was driven by the second team of Sebastien Buemi, Stephane Sarrazin and Anthony Davidson. Despite staying very close to the Audi R18 e-tron, neither of them won the Le Mans due to mechanical problems and even an accident.
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