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

  • Thread starter Blaze_409
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LMSCorvetteGT2
I never said Wurz was bad at all? Not sure where you got that from I actually like him as to where I don't like many Peugot drivers...espcially Davidson. Yeah I still hold a grudge from 2010 24H Le Mans.
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I said you seemed to suggest it. Maybe I interpreted it wrong, but "There are plenty of good drivers" just seemed to come off to me as Alex was not a good driver (along with the suggestion of Andre Lotterer).

I actually Applaud Davidson for not hitting everything he saw this year. Good to see some drivers actually change for the better, maybe a certain one who got parked this past weekend could actually learn from him.
 
RACECAR
I said you seemed to suggest it. Maybe I interpreted it wrong, but "There are plenty of good drivers" just seemed to come off to me as Alex was not a good driver (along with the suggestion of Andre Lotterer).

I actually Applaud Davidson for not hitting everything he saw this year. Good to see some drivers actually change for the better, maybe a certain one who got parked this past weekend could actually learn from him.
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Kyle Busch won't learn a thing and that's probably best for the nascar thread I suppose. I'm saying there are plenty of good drivers that deserve an good drive with the new team, Toyota doesn't need to take drivers I think. Alex is a great driver all one needs to do is look at his record.

EDIT:
Also look at my GTP name and that will tell you why I have a bad taste for Davidson.
 
You obviously missed Davidson driving roughly the same way around the #2 Audi at this year's LM24 then....

Wurz is a good pick, solid driver and will do well under the Toyota team.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
Kyle Busch won't learn a thing and that's probably best for the nascar thread I suppose. I'm saying there are plenty of good drivers that deserve an good drive with the new team, Toyota doesn't need to take drivers I think. Alex is a great driver all one needs to do is look at his record.

EDIT:
Also look at my GTP name and that will tell you why I have a bad taste for Davidson.
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So I indeed misinterpreted your post and I can see what you mean. I just think by getting a guy from one of the rivals automatically has the benefit of getting data from a frontrunner and who's 5 years spent with a winning factory team argubly lends the creditbility of experiance in development.

And yes, I'm familiar with your username and therefore see where the grudge stems from.

Stavelot
You obviously missed Davidson driving roughly the same way around the #2 Audi at this year's LM24 then....
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I must have missed that part then because for most of the race, I didn't see him race that way.
 
Him and Montangy towards the end of this years race both slowed down their laps to allow the #2 Audi to catch up and then proceeded to block and drive rather dangerously around it, i.e Montangy brake checking it thru Tetre Rouge and the first chicane on the Mulsanne and Davidson continuously slamming the door and nearly cutting the nose of the #2 off going into corners....
 
Lapierre is a current Oreca driver so no brainer there, Nakajima is a Formula Nippon driver so they're interested in home grown talent. This should stack up as an interesting 2012 :dopey:
 
Official long version of the press release mentions two things: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/groups/e...rz-nakajima-and-lapierre-for-toyota-wec-team/

One car will be entered in selected rounds, although the final identity of the team and its race schedule remain under discussion.

All three drivers are expected to drive the hybrid LMP1 car for the first time at the roll-out, which will take place early in the new year at an as-yet-unconfirmed European venue.

No Lotterer then I guess.
 
Stavelot
Lapierre is a current Oreca driver so no brainer there, Nakajima is a Formula Nippon driver so they're interested in home grown talent. This should stack up as an interesting 2012 :dopey:
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Nakajima was their big name, he was their main hope rather than Kobayashi but his 2nd season in F1 was a flop so he lost his drive, shame because he had potential, I thought he would be in Toyota's LMP programme since he was still closely linked through Stefan GP at the start of 2010. I'm guessing Toyota will have more than one car next year which will probably be driven by people such as Premat, Lotterer and any other of their SuperGT drivers possibly Seiji Ara, as a Le Mans winner.

Edit: Oops didn't see the post above, make all of what I said for 2013 instead :D
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Lotterer going to be in the Audi camp for a long time?

I mean, Audi rarely lets winning drivers go unless they are old, and Lotterer managed to bring home the sole surviving R18 under great pressure.
 
Hugh must be having the time of his life with Toyota.. i can imagine all conversations go like....... "The radiators usually get clogged. how do you propose to..$$$$$(toyota). The car has to warmup the tires how do you propose to $$$$$. Showering with money lol. Toyota has everything to be successful. Money, talent, experience of Oreca.
 
You mean Hugues? Well, obviously money is a big part of success but in the end, when you have different concepts racing each other, the outcome will always be decided by the regulations.

The ACO apparently has tried to even the odds between Diesel and Petrol for many years, but never succeeded (ask Henri Pesc and David Richards, they have been very vocal on this in the past years). We will see how this will evolve now.

Next year we will have Petrol Hybrids, Diesel Hybrids (Peugeot?), "normal" Petrol and Diesel and also Highcroft's DeltaWing (supposed to show the same pace as LMP1 cars). Should be interesting to understand what kind of car has IT, in the end. And then it'll be the ACO again going to read the regulations.

PS - Not sure if it will still be like this next WEC year, but these past years they usually analyze data from previous races (Sebring/Spa) and do some final regulatory "tweaks" before the big one at Le Mans.
 
sumbrownkid
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Lotterer going to be in the Audi camp for a long time?

I mean, Audi rarely lets winning drivers go unless they are old, and Lotterer managed to bring home the sole surviving R18 under great pressure.
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He drives for Audi and Toyota (Super GT) so I guess its whoever will give him the best chance of winning.
 
Stavelot
Him and Montangy towards the end of this years race both slowed down their laps to allow the #2 Audi to catch up and then proceeded to block and drive rather dangerously around it, i.e Montangy brake checking it thru Tetre Rouge and the first chicane on the Mulsanne and Davidson continuously slamming the door and nearly cutting the nose of the #2 off going into corners....
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I definately remember Montagny's dirty driving as that was about the time I tuned back into the race. He didn't change either at Petit Le Mans when he caused Duma to crash and didn't even man up to it.
 
Hun200kmh
PS - Not sure if it will still be like this next WEC year, but these past years they usually analyze data from previous races (Sebring/Spa) and do some final regulatory "tweaks" before the big one at Le Mans.
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In past years it has been just guessing. In October the regs for 2012 were announced and what is supposed to make it different this time is that they had secret timing loops on the circuits and forced teams to give them confidential data. Generally much more theoretical approach (instead of looking at only lap times which is a flawed approach). This is why I hope it's different this time.

More here: http://www.lemans.org/en/races/inte..._technical_and_sporting_regulations_5410.html

Of course another difference is that in the past, you had no manufacturer with petrol interest. One could say Toyota finally forced them to look at this issue more thoroughly.
 
I think Audi isn't going to give up one of their Le Mans winners to a "New" Team... Sure, Lotterer drives for Toyota in Japan, but aren't they (Petronas-TOM'S/Toyota) Different from TMG?

And why would they just take Nakajima and not Lotterer from Petronas-TOMS? there must be some sort of Audi pull for him...

Lapierre and Wurz are good choices, and Nakajima... a bit of a wild card i think.
 
hawkeye122
I think Audi isn't going to give up one of their Le Mans winners to a "New" Team... Sure, Lotterer drives for Toyota in Japan, but aren't they (Petronas-TOM'S/Toyota) Different from TMG?
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If I recall, Petronas TOM's is the works team for Toyota in SuperGT, all with support from "Technocraft" (AKA TRD Japan). It is indeed a seperate branch from TMG.
 
I think let's hope! I was so mad that I couldn,t really watch any o the races this year because o Espn. I only got to watch the 6 hours of silverstone
 
Being a former Toyota F1 fan, I am happy to see Toyota back to racing. Their entry in the 2002 season is what really got me into motorsport. Will be following the 2012 Le Mans series =)
 
Hun200kmh
Won't the WEC races be streamed for free? That'll include at least two ALMS rounds isn't it? (Sebring, Petit LM)
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Its free for sure but like ESPN3.com, you have to have the provider otherwise you won't have it. It means for me I have to look through crappy Internet feeds for the race and thats assuming they even work. I hated doing this when I was watching the 24 Hours Of Nurburgring.
 

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