Toyota Racing today took the wraps off the new TS040 Hybrid, the car which will take the team into the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship and a new era of hybrid powered motorsport.
The new car, revealed today at the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France, represents the most advanced hybrid technology in modern racing. Tomorrow it will begin an official championship test session, prior to making its competition debut at the season-opening Six Hours of Silverstone race on 20 April.
Toyota will be taking on rival manufacturers Audi and Porsche with a car that benefits from 480PS (473bhp/353kW) of all-wheel drive hybrid boost in addition to the 520PS (513bhp/383kW) produced by its 3.7-litre V8 petrol engine, taking maximum power to 1,000PS (986bhp/736kW).
The new powertrain has been developed in line with revised WEC technical regulations, which put an emphasis on fuel economy. Teams are required to use 25 per cent less fuel than in 2013, with savings achieved through changes to powertrains, aerodynamics and driving style. By adopting more road-relevant technology, the WEC will increase the possibilities for the transfer of Toyota’s race-bred technical know-how to its production cars, strengthening is status as the world’s leading manufacturer of hybrid vehicles.
The V8 engine has been engineered at the Higashfuji technical centre, the research base where Toyota’s next-generation road car technology is also developed.
The TS040 Hybrid’s chassis is designed, developed and manufactured by Toyota Motorsport (TMG) in Cologne, Germany. It marks a major evolution of last year’s TS030 Hybrid, incorporating design changes dictated by the new championship regulations, including a maximum width reduced by 10cm and the adoption of additional safety features.
The TS040 Hybrid has already completed 12 days of testing across Europe since January and it will undergo a further test following this week’s prologue event ahead of its first race.
Toyota Racing have shuffled the pack of drivers for the new season, with Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Kazuki Nakajima sharing the No7 car and Anthony Davidson, Nicolas Lapierre and Sébastien Buemi piloting the No8 machine.
