Toyota plots WEC hypercar entrant | Update!
Gazoo Racing hints at what it will bring to the Valkyrie fight in 2020...
Ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, World Endurance Championship leader Toyota Gazoo Racing confirmed its intentions to race in the series’ all-new hypercar class when it’s introduced from September 2020. Following Aston Martin’s announcement that it’ll field a pair of racing Valkyries in the same class, Toyota says it will use a “hybrid-powered prototype based on the GR Super Sport road car”, which it teased last year with the heart of the TS050 LMP1 racer, for the future season.
Following the final LMP1-fronted championship, the present prototype racers will be swapped for road-based machines to create a class many have already labelled as a successor to the legendary GT1 category. It’ll almost certainly see a reduction in overall pace, but today’s P1 category hasn’t exactly been hot with competition since Porsche dropped out. The birth of a hypercar class will therefore not just give the WEC’s top category a much-needed revamp, it should also create a stage on which Toyota can finally beat other manufacturer-backed entrants at Le Mans. Something it should have done on that fateful day three years ago.
Toyota said track testing of its GR Super Sport-based racer will begin at the start of next year; although it released a video of its CEO Akio Toyoda driving the prototype over the weekend. Much appears similar to today’s TS050 – the wraparound windscreen and central fin look near identical, for example – but today’s Toyota clearly sports the tighter, more naturally athletic shape – no surprise given the vastly contrasted beginnings of a thoroughbred competition machine and race-adapted road car.
For now, though, the WEC, Toyota and many of us can hope to see more manufacturers announcing their entry into the hypercar category. With two significant brands already confirmed, you might imagine a few more will be tempted over; Christian von Koenigsegg has repeatedly hinted at an interest to join the class, although McLaren and Ferrari stopped going to WEC meetings last year, suggesting their focus will remain on Formula 1. Still, there’s nothing stopping a privateer developing their own versions of those brands’ hypercars. Rest assured we’re working on growing that EnduroKA budget…
In fact Renault might have a crack as the F1 engine will be easy to modify to fit into these cars.
In fact Renault might have a crack as the F1 engine will be easy to modify to fit into these cars.
That Toyota looks like it's just their LMP1 car, with a different body shell moulded on top.
In fact Renault might have a crack as the F1 engine will be easy to modify to fit into these cars.
That Toyota looks like it's just their LMP1 car, with a different body shell moulded on top.
https://jalopnik.com/looks-like-toyota-just-brough...
In fact Renault might have a crack as the F1 engine will be easy to modify to fit into these cars.
Overall though, it's an exciting development for endurance racing but not without its issues. The rest of the field will all need slowing down considerably to match the hypercars. Glickenhaus and byKolles are already committed to building cars, and I'd really like to see koenigsegg have a crack.
Which means they'll need to slow down LMP2, which is a bit of a shame; P2 are wonderful cars, great sounding, and driving standards even at much faster pace and silver grade drivers were fine. Wonder if its really beyond the wit of man to have more road-themed cars, lower costs, but not take a such backwards step in pace. Watching the current P1s blast through the Porsche curves I could (and have!) watch all night...
We'll start with some current 'hypercars' then within 2 years specialist build race cars that someone sticks a number plate on (picture a Porsche 919 evo with a price-tag on the windscreen and numberplate sticker) doesn't make than a hyper-road car.
I think GT3 cars are already as sensibly removed from reality (Senna vs 650GT3 @ Silverstone = -7secs) as practical, but they are still easily identifiable, which is why is as popular as it is.
The new category will result in the same GT1/prototype issues all over again... Minimal brand recognition from esoteric race car silhouettes.
Additionally, you can't base racing rules that include subjective goals ("aerodynamics cannot take precedence over aesthetics"), engineers are far too clever and will always push the boundary for what is possible.
That's also why they're allowing both modified road and track cars and custom built prototypes.
The target lap of a minimum of 3:30 will probably be dragged up, but you're right that they'll need to slow LMP2 down slightly, they might just add a bit of ballast and have Gibson turn the engine down a smidge. The racing should still be close, but I hope they don't spoil it as you're right in how good it is.
Overall though, it's an exciting development for endurance racing but not without its issues. The rest of the field will all need slowing down considerably to match the hypercars. Glickenhaus and byKolles are already committed to building cars, and I'd really like to see koenigsegg have a crack.
We'll start with some current 'hypercars' then within 2 years specialist build race cars that someone sticks a number plate on (picture a Porsche 919 evo with a price-tag on the windscreen and numberplate sticker) doesn't make than a hyper-road car.
I think GT3 cars are already as sensibly removed from reality (Senna vs 650GT3 @ Silverstone = -7secs) as practical, but they are still easily identifiable, which is why is as popular as it is.
The new category will result in the same GT1/prototype issues all over again... Minimal brand recognition from esoteric race car silhouettes.
Additionally, you can't base racing rules that include subjective goals ("aerodynamics cannot take precedence over aesthetics"), engineers are far too clever and will always push the boundary for what is possible.
The "point" is a noble one: get more manufacturers into Le Mans, and get the show going again. Toyota on their own isn't interesting. It's done through combination of more road "looking" cars so better for marketing, and ,much lower costs. Sadly the costs also partly managed through Balance of Performance, which is a shame for the top class. But needs must.
GT1 wasn't BoP'd, and had much more specific rules about them being road cars. Very different intent here.
My concern as said elsewhere is just on the speed of these things: they dont look LMP1-fast, and the target of 3:30 per lap has been mentioned. And that it would be a shame slowing down the 2nd class... else LMP2 as it stands would out-qualify them by 5 seconds!
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