Today, oyota Gazoo Racing presented the new TS050 HYBRID, the car with which it will compete in the 2016 season of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The new car comes after a difficult defense in 2015 of its World Endurance Championship titles, so Toyota has set complex performance targets to once again compete at the forefront of the competitive WEC, which also includes hybrid manufacturers. of the LMP1 (top class of the Le Mans Prototype), such as Porsche and Audi.
This TS050 HYBRID is Toyota’s third new vehicle since it entered the WEC in 2012 and has been publicly unveiled at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France.
Toyota explains in a press release that the car presents a substantial change in concept around the motorization, since this time it is a 2.4-liter V6 petrol engine, with twin turbo and direct injection, which is combined with a hybrid system in the 8 Megajoule category, both developed by the Automotive Unit Development Division of the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center.
Toyota technicians ensure that a new generation turbo engine with direct injection is better in line with current regulations, which limits the flow of fuel into the engine, and offers the opportunity to maintain the transfer of technologies and knowledge of the circuit to road vehicles.
As in the cars of the Japanese brand, the front and rear generating engines recover energy when braking, store it in a high-power lithium-ion battery and release it as propulsion with maximum efficiency.
Thanks to the storage switch from supercapacitor to battery, the TS050 HYBRID can move up to the higher power 8MJ hybrid category.
The car has an output of 500 horsepower from the gasoline engine, which is completed by another 500 from the electrical system, for a combined output of 1,000 horsepower.
The naturally aspirated TS040 HYBRID was already used as a break-in benchmark, contributing to today’s road vehicles and now that turbo engines are being used more and more on the road, Toyota hopes to use the technology and knowledge accumulated in the WEC to create ever better passenger cars.
A new powertrain concept places different demands on cooling and structure, as well as a new transmission to handle the substantial increase in torque developed by the turbo engine.
These premises, in combination with a new aerodynamic concept, mean that practically all the chassis components of the TS050 HYBRID have been redesigned by Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne, Germany.
Engine components have also played a role in improving the TS050 HYBRID’s aerodynamic performance; By relocating the front motor-generator unit, better air passage has been achieved under the vehicle, which will contribute to overall performance. The suspension kinematics have also been revised to optimize tire wear.
The team, which has several new faces, has already been testing the TS050 HYBRID and trying to maximize its performance and reliability; To do this, he has traveled more than 22,000 km with positive results. The next round arrives at Paul Ricard on March 25-26, while the nine-race WEC season kicks off at Silverstone on April 17.
Toyota’s team for the WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans consists of the number 5 TS050 HYBRID, with 2014 world champions Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi joining forces again with the pole position winner at Le Mans, Kazuki Nakajima, to form a more powerful alliance.
Multiple pole position winner at Le Mans, Stéphane Sarrazin, teams up again with WEC test winner Mike Conway in car number 6. Kamui Kobayashi completed the trio, podium in Formula 1, after time as a driver of tests and of reserve.
While Toyots does not have an official test and reserve driver this year, young Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa will join the team, as a member of the Toyota Young Driver Program (TDP).
Ryo, a Japanese Super GT racing driver and former Formula 3 champion in Japan, will also drive an LMP2 car in the European Le Mans Series with the TDS Racing team.
Toyota first competed in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 1983, and began a long period of participation in endurance racing.
Since 1985, Toyota vehicles have competed in 17 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing second four times (1992, 1994, 1999 and 2013).
Toyota began participating in the new WEC in 2012, combining the knowledge of the TOYOTA Technical Center, where the hybrid system is developed, with the support and facilities of Toyota Motorsport GmbH for the development of the chassis.
The multinational team is based in Cologne, Germany, and staffed by engineers from the motorsport and hybrid department, who bring technology and know-how back to the development of road vehicles.
Since 2012, Toyota has achieved nine pole positions and won eight races, in addition to finishing on the podium a total of 23 times.
In 2014, the team won the World Drivers ‘and Manufacturers’ Championships with the TS040 HYBRID, and a year later TOYOTA celebrated 30 years since first entry at Le Mans.
Toyota Motorsport GmbH combines its role in the WEC project with its other activities, such as supplying a World Rally Championship engine for TOYOTA’s return to the category in 2017, as well as engineering services and automotive activities for customers. .
Toyota introduces the new TS050 HYBRID
