Toyota Petrol Hybrid LMP1 to Lemans and WEC (Its Official)

  • Thread starter Blaze_409
  • 431 comments
  • 39,272 views
I think you guys need to listen to Radio Le Mans' latest midweek motorsport to hear why they think Toyota will get that car in amongst the Peugeots and Audis.

And I agree with Radio Le Mans as well that the biggest question is not if they can do, but which drivers they're going to haul in, and how they're going to organize the project.

And last but not least: Why do I think Toyota can be competitive already in 2012? Well they didn't really start the project 2 months ago, did they? I can bet you a good steak with mustard on the side they've been planning this comeback ever since they quit F1 in 2009-2010, and perhaps even prior to that point.
 
Well it could be the first move that would chain-react into a new golden age of endurance racing. If Toyota's at Le Mans, there's no way Nissan and Honda will just sit on their bums all day.
 
And last but not least: Why do I think Toyota can be competitive already in 2012? Well they didn't really start the project 2 months ago, did they? I can bet you a good steak with mustard on the side they've been planning this comeback ever since they quit F1 in 2009-2010, and perhaps even prior to that point.
Toshiaki Kino****a said in the Autosport story that studies started in 2010 (#post6073337).
 
I think you guys need to listen to Radio Le Mans' latest midweek motorsport to hear why they think Toyota will get that car in amongst the Peugeots and Audis.

And I agree with Radio Le Mans as well that the biggest question is not if they can do, but which drivers they're going to haul in, and how they're going to organize the project.

And last but not least: Why do I think Toyota can be competitive already in 2012? Well they didn't really start the project 2 months ago, did they? I can bet you a good steak with mustard on the side they've been planning this comeback ever since they quit F1 in 2009-2010, and perhaps even prior to that point.

Well we know Toyota has been messing with Le Mans for a while, they've been doing engine producing, which is always the best step before building your own car. So it can be said that Toyota will start the race to Le Mans from Japan with Honda obviously and then others may follow. Heck with WEC next year we may see a revival of the late 80s early 90s and late 90s with all of them in there. Porsche is said to come back all we need now is Mazda and Nissan and we got ourselves a new chapter of racing history with the use of new hybrid technology. However, no matter who joins they'll need a great set of drivers and some direction if they plan to be Audi, Peugot, and keep up with Aston Martin and Honda/Acura.

EDIT:
Well it could be the first move that would chain-react into a new golden age of endurance racing. If Toyota's at Le Mans, there's no way Nissan and Honda will just sit on their bums all day.

Honda is already coming back next year, go read the reports. They're bringing back the ARX-01e with Starkka racing which is suppose to be better, obviously it isn't called the ARX-01e anymore from what we can see on the first page of this thread. However, Honda are coming back.
 
Last edited:
Keep up with Aston Martin :lol: just last past the first lap and that is the AMR-One beaten :lol:

BTW Blaze, it is Le Mans not Lemans....
 
Keep up with Aston Martin :lol: just last past the first lap and that is the AMR-One beaten :lol:

BTW Blaze, it is Le Mans not Lemans....

Uh wrong the AMR-One wasn't used all season and in ALMS it wasn't used at all. Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 was still used this year by Muscle Milk and was the same body to take over after the AMR-One was pulled. The Lola Aston is very successful and has been highly competitive from 2009 till now. So that is the car Toyota may very well have to beat next year as well.
 
It was used at Le Mans and some ILMC/LMS races and that was what I was referring to...You didn't specify you were talking about ALMS (Honda/HPD is in WEC with Strakka) and this thread is about Toyota at Le Mans and WEC so.....
 
It was used at Le Mans and some ILMC/LMS races and that was what I was referring to...You didn't specify you were talking about ALMS (Honda/HPD is in WEC with Strakka) and this thread is about Toyota at Le Mans and WEC so.....

So what your mad cause you were informed...other people brought up Honda on this thread, and it still has to do with the thread indirectly so don't get mad. I didn't say on ALMS, I said LMS as well. It was used in the last three rounds if you watched the series. The Lola chassis is a very successful one for Aston Martin and is something that Toyota would have to beat if they use it next year. See how I put toyota in the post, and talk about them...that's keeping on topic. No reason for that attitude.
 
I see no mention in your post (#67 in thread) of either ALMS or LMS....BTW, don't accuse someone of being mad when they aren't, kinda makes you look a bit silly.
Uh wrong the AMR-One wasn't used all season and in ALMS it wasn't used at all.
That right there is attitude that's unwarranted if we're playing this trivial game.

And Toyota having to beat Aston? Toyota will be chasing Audi and Peugeot for wins....they've got the money Aston doesn't to spend on a new engine, hybrid system and aero package comparable to Audi and Pug whilst Aston has to make do with a car engine made of 2 Mondeo V6's welded together and a customer chassis from Lola.
 
I see no mention in your post (#67 in thread) of either ALMS or LMS....BTW, don't accuse someone of being mad when they aren't, kinda makes you look a bit silly.

That right there is attitude that's unwarranted if we're playing this trivial game.

And Toyota having to beat Aston? Toyota will be chasing Audi and Peugeot for wins....they've got the money Aston doesn't to spend on a new engine, hybrid system and aero package comparable to Audi and Pug whilst Aston has to make do with a car engine made of 2 Mondeo V6's welded together and a customer chassis from Lola.

You obviously don't get it....Also why quote Clarkson? The Aston got a podium at petit le mans this year behind the Audi and Peugot. The car is an older chassis that is still highly competitive with an engine pretty much out of the production cars the company uses...Also I'd think most people who follow the sport would know what Aston I'm talking about if you didn't sorry but I clear it up for you in post #69 which you obviously pointed out in your last post when you brought up how you only saw me state ALMS (though I said it replaced the AMR-One which only showed up in LMS). Look I can see you have a bias and don't really watch LMS or ALMS (or at least that's how it comes off to me) from your last quote, cause if you knew anything you'd see that a LMS championship and the number of wins with it, even as recent as this year, makes the car pretty competitive. Especially for a new team throwing its hat in the ring. I have no doubt Honda will be fast from the starting gates, cause they'd been racing with Acura for a while and learned a lot.

EDIT:
What you quoted wasn't attitude it was just me telling you that you were wrong...which you were
 
Can you clear that up a bit? Useless wall of text is useless.

But, Mr. Ignorant American, I've watched all ILMC races this year, all 24 hours of Le Mans, Spa and Nurburgring along with every single minute of ALMS racing with the only races I've missed being non ILMC rounds of the LMS.

You're taking like what I've said is I hate the Aston (DBR-1/2) and think it's an utter pile of animal feces which it isn't, it's the fastest of the petrol cars with fully professional drivers behind the wheel and in the P1 'Bis' class it's pantsed the competition.

Who's the new team? Cytosport? Don't be ridiculous, anyone that watches ALMS will know they ran the RS Spyder for a number of years....

That said it has only shone in the ALMS against cars with half the torque and more gentleman drivers compared to the squads running in Europe and had it not been for Peugeot and Audi problems at Petit it wouldn't have gotten a look in to the podium...It's only competitive because of the petrol cars it's running against (which it wiped the floor with in 2009 and 2010...yes privateer teams really don't get new equipment that often) but against the big spending Audis and Peugeots it's really got nothing on them aero or power wise.

Now, Toyota on the other hand has a bottomless pit of cash and are as serious as the current big 2 are about winning in the WEC and more importantly at Le Mans. They've got TMG in Europe who have the best aero facilities out of almost anyone (bar some F1 teams) and will out of the box blow away the current petrol opposition pissing off a number of team owners who whinge endlessly about equality in the process. I expect this LMP1 Prius (note, using this as a fun nickname) to be a thorn in the side of the R18 and 908 come next year...
 
Last edited:
Can you clear that up a bit? Useless wall of text is useless.

But, Mr. Ignorant American, I've watched all ILMC races this year, all 24 hours of Le Mans, Spa and Nurburgring along with every single minute of ALMS racing with the only races I've missed being non ILMC rounds of the LMS.

You're taking like what I've said is I hate the Aston (DBR-1/2) and think it's an utter pile of animal feces which it isn't, it's the fastest of the petrol cars with fully professional drivers behind the wheel and in the P1 'Bis' class it's pantsed the competition.

Who's the new team? Cytosport? Don't be ridiculous, anyone that watches ALMS will know they ran the RS Spyder for a number of years....
That said it has only shone in the ALMS against cars with half the torque and more gentleman drivers compared to the squads running in Europe and had it not been for Peugeot and Audi problems at Petit it wouldn't have gotten a look in to the podium...It's only competitive because of the petrol cars it's running against (which it wiped the floor with in 2009 and 2010...yes privateer teams really don't get new equipment that often) but against the big spending Audis and Peugeots it's really got nothing on them aero or power wise.

Now, Toyota on the other hand has a bottomless pit of cash and are as serious as the current big 2 are about winning in the WEC and more importantly at Le Mans. They've got TMG in Europe who have the best aero facilities out of almost anyone (bar some F1 teams) and will out of the box blow away the current petrol opposition pissing off a number of team owners who whinge endlessly about equality in the process. I expect this LMP1 Prius (note, using this as a fun nickname) to be a thorn in the side of the R18 and 908 come next year...

Ignorant American...that sounds a bit xenophobic maybe you should go read the AUP rules. I said the way you wrote it seemed that way to me, which means that it may not have been but that's how I saw it. I didn't say that you said it was crap, but from your text that's the conclusion I got and was informing you, which means I may be wrong. If you don't have attitude you sure seem like it, with that comment but okay? Also with the useless wall of text comment. I'll divide my post to three lines for you if you want...

The Lola Aston beat the Audi R10 all season long in LMS back in 2009 (except when Peugot won). Torque isn't everything either as the Dyson Mazda proved in ALMS. Also the drivers in the American series aren't more tame which sounds like another xenophobic comment toward America but okay. The part I bolded doesn't make sense to me, not sure where you got that from? If you can clarify that'd help me out.

As another member posted Toyota doesn't plan to put too much into this yet:
Latest Autosport (print version) has interviewed Toshiaki Kino****a* (president of Toyota Motorsport). There are no direct quotes really, but Autosport says that it might be a low key affair next year with modest expectations, even with the possibility of running only one car. They want to learn first and real goals are set beyond 2012. Low expectations are partly because of the previous failures (LM & F1) and the delayed go-ahead due the earthquake. Autosport also thinks the engine is a development of the 3.4L Rebellion engine. <- Currently used in Le Mans)

Part of this could be Autosport's speculation just based on the interview, I guess. They do underline that nothing has been decided yet.

* argh @ dirty word checking, replace ! with i.

Also as I and others have stated yes Toyota does have alot of money...but that didn't help win them a single F1 WDC or WCC, much less a F1 GP win. Nor did it help them be the best in LMS during the late 90s. A group like Toyota doesn't want to be the first, second or third best loser and that is the point I made when saying all the teams they need to beat with Aston Martin being one of them if they carry on and get more serious. Your saying they expect that but a well informed news magazine says otherwise and that is the point I was bringing up. A bottomless pit of money doesn't win things all the time.
 
So the Kolles R10 with hybrid rear bodywork was meant to be as fast as the fully professional factory team? Ok then....

This petty argument about being xenophobic and attitude is going to go nowhere and be detrimental to this thread so I'm going to end it here, it has no place in this discussion.

blah blah blah ....the car pretty competitive. Especially for a new team throwing its hat in the ring. I have no doubt Honda will be... blah blah blah
This is what I was referring to when I asked who was the new team, do explain who they are.

Autosport being reliable? :lol: They're just another Formula 1 rag that's been oh so wrong in the past when it comes to anything Bernie Ecclestone hasn't got his finger in.
 
So the Kolles R10 with hybrid rear bodywork was meant to be as fast as the fully professional factory team? Ok then....

This petty argument about being xenophobic and attitude is going to go nowhere and be detrimental to this thread so I'm going to end it here, it has no place in this discussion.


This is what I was referring to when I asked who was the new team, do explain who they are.

Autosport being reliable? :lol: They're just another Formula 1 rag that's been oh so wrong in the past when it comes to anything Bernie Ecclestone hasn't got his finger in.

That quote was meant for Toyota as the new team coming in I wrote an incomplete thought down and apologize for being a bit undescriptive there. I was trying to say "Especially for a new team coming in like Toyota who has to race them and others". Also you bring up bias toward Autosport but we'll just have to see what Toyota does and then go from there, I think Autosport has a very good depth on other things beside F1 but it is your opinion so can't really argue that.

It's not petty when you say "ignorant american" or saying the euro driver are more traversed than the american counter-part (paraphrasing obviously so don't run with that). Just seems a tad xenophobic, you could have called me ignorant but you took the time to notice where I reign from and then say ignorant american...just makes me wonder.

Also not sure what you have against me at this point, I started a lively debate well indirectly you did it seemed, and I wanted to clarify why Aston Martin isn't as bad as you made them out to be. Just trying to be fair. Either way good luck to Toyota they're always my favorite Japanese team...but I think I will root for Honda come next year just due to how Toyota has let me down in the past and Honda has more recent experience.
 
It's hard not to be bias against Autosport (if that's even how to describe it) when they're so F1 centric.

Aston Martin as a team is good, if they had more money (think Audi and Pug money) then they could have made more of the AMR-One but as it is they're better off racing the Vantage in GTE.
 
It's hard not to be bias against Autosport (if that's even how to describe it) when they're so F1 centric.

Aston Martin as a team is good, if they had more money (think Audi and Pug money) then they could have made more of the AMR-One but as it is they're better off racing the Vantage in GTE.

I agree with you 100% on that comment! I think the AMR-One was a joke and really made Aston Martin look stupid, especially after having a successful car before. I think if Aston Martin doesn't improve this case will show that more money is better and 2012 they may do more money giving (one can only hope) to have a better car built that can win races instead of relying on an old chasis.
 
Aston won't be able to run the DBR-1/2 next year anyway so they can't rely on it for 2012....

The AMR-One chassis was very poor aerodynamically however the engine was sound.
 
Funny that, the ILMC hasn't finished yet and Peugeot seems to have wrapped up that title along with the teams, drivers and whatever else there may be to win. LMS on the other hand then yes I do believe Rebellion won that title.
 
Aston won't be able to run the DBR-1/2 next year anyway so they can't rely on it for 2012....

The AMR-One chassis was very poor aerodynamically however the engine was sound.

The engine wasn't sound at all that was a big issue they had with it in races and testing looking at the string of catastrophic engine failures at Le Mans. Prodrive admits they should have put an interim engine in or went to an outside group, but didn't have the money. The aero package wasn't the best, but they would have done better if the engine was there to start with I think. Also I know they can't use it, but I'm hoping they look to that for what to build next year as an improvement. I only see one good thing from open top chassis anyways.
 
Honda is already coming back next year, go read the reports. They're bringing back the ARX-01e with Starkka racing which is suppose to be better, obviously it isn't called the ARX-01e anymore from what we can see on the first page of this thread. However, Honda are coming back.
Not Honda! While "HPD" does come from Honda Performance Development (which is a subsidiary of American Honda), but the chassis is literally "HPD", not Honda, neither Acura. Of course, it could be just as easily branded as Honda (just like it was branded as Acura until the end of 2009) if Honda decided to do so but they haven't decided...

The engine wasn't sound at all that was a big issue they had with it in races and testing looking at the string of catastrophic engine failures at Le Mans. Prodrive admits they should have put an interim engine in or went to an outside group, but didn't have the money. The aero package wasn't the best, but they would have done better if the engine was there to start with I think. Also I know they can't use it, but I'm hoping they look to that for what to build next year as an improvement. I only see one good thing from open top chassis anyways.
Engine was ok (but in the need of further development), but apparently the chassis had some fundamental issues. Source "10.6.11" @ http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newssept11.html
 
Back