Photo: Toyota
Last year, Toyota’s TS050 Hybrid lost the opportunity to win at Le Mans with minutes to go until the end of the legendary 24-hour endurance race.
The team’s near miss went across the world, and even their rivals at Porsche and Audi felt sorry for them in the spirit of fair play. This year, they want to earn a victory at Le Mans, and Toyota Gazoo Racing’s centers in Higashi-Fuji and Cologne have been working on improving last year’s vehicle to bring it to the highest possible specification according to FIA rules.
The automaker’s racing division has increased the compression ratio of the 2.4-liter turbocharged V6 engine, and improvements were made to its cylinder block, cylinder head, and its combustion chamber. The 8MJ hybrid system was also improved by reducing the size and weight of its motors, while its battery was enhanced.
Chassis and aerodynamics were altered to comply with the rules of the 2017 FIA Endurance World Championship. The Japanese company worked with the most advanced tools available to engineers today, including computational fluid dynamics, as well as conventional wind tunnels.
This year, the TS050 Hybrid recorded over 30,000 kilometers in testing, which was split into five bits at various tracks. The latter include Motorland Aragon, Portimao, and Paul Ricard. Four of those tests were 30-hour endurance trials. Evidently, 30 hours at Paul Ricard pose different challenges than 24 hours at Le Mans, but we think Toyota has already done the math to compensate the differences.
Toyota will run the 7, 8, and 9 numbers on its cars in the LMP1 class. The first vehicle of the three will be driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez, and Mike Conway.
Number 8 car is reserved for Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi, and Kazuki Nakajima. Meanwhile, Toyota’s #9 is assigned to Stephane Sarrazin, Nicolas Lapierre, and Yuji Kunimoto.
The oldest driver, Sarrazin was born in 1975, and already has 15 starts in Le Mans. The team’s youngest driver, Kunimoto, was born in 1990, and has no experience in the World Endurance Championship. You may have noticed they share the #9 Toyota, so this season should be exciting.
The automaker’s racing division has increased the compression ratio of the 2.4-liter turbocharged V6 engine, and improvements were made to its cylinder block, cylinder head, and its combustion chamber. The 8MJ hybrid system was also improved by reducing the size and weight of its motors, while its battery was enhanced.
Chassis and aerodynamics were altered to comply with the rules of the 2017 FIA Endurance World Championship. The Japanese company worked with the most advanced tools available to engineers today, including computational fluid dynamics, as well as conventional wind tunnels.
This year, the TS050 Hybrid recorded over 30,000 kilometers in testing, which was split into five bits at various tracks. The latter include Motorland Aragon, Portimao, and Paul Ricard. Four of those tests were 30-hour endurance trials. Evidently, 30 hours at Paul Ricard pose different challenges than 24 hours at Le Mans, but we think Toyota has already done the math to compensate the differences.
Toyota will run the 7, 8, and 9 numbers on its cars in the LMP1 class. The first vehicle of the three will be driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez, and Mike Conway.
Number 8 car is reserved for Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi, and Kazuki Nakajima. Meanwhile, Toyota’s #9 is assigned to Stephane Sarrazin, Nicolas Lapierre, and Yuji Kunimoto.
The oldest driver, Sarrazin was born in 1975, and already has 15 starts in Le Mans. The team’s youngest driver, Kunimoto, was born in 1990, and has no experience in the World Endurance Championship. You may have noticed they share the #9 Toyota, so this season should be exciting.
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