What's the news?
Toyota Gazoo Racing's new World Endurance Championship challenger has been revealed. The TS050 is a joint effort between the Japan-based Motor Sport Unit Development Division (catchy name) and Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne. The former has instrumented the switch to a 2.4-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine in place of the 3.7-litre normally-aspirated V8 found in last year's TS040.
The move to a turbocharged unit follows Toyota's lack of pace in comparison to Audi and Porsche in last year's WEC, with the team reckoning that the new engine holds much more potential for development along with improvements in efficiency and packaging - vital aspects of any endurance racer. A stronger seven-speed gearbox has been developed to cope with the increased torque, while aerodynamic efficiency has been improved by relocating certain hybrid system components. The car also runs a lithium-ion battery instead of the supercapacitor energy-storage setup in the old car, facilitating a step up to the eight megajoule class. This, in conjunction with the 493hp output from the V6, should aid the TS050 in pushing its LMP1 competition that bit harder this season.
Anything else?
Toyota intends to field two cars for the nine-race calendar, with Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima in the #5 machine, all racers with much F1 and endurance experience. The #6 car will be home to Mike Conway, crazy overtaker Kamui Kobayashi and former Subaru WRC pilot Stéphane Sarrazin. Silverstone kicks off the WEC season on April 17th, but as usual all eyes will be on Le Mans in mid-June to see if Toyota can finally add endurance racing's highest accolade to its trophy cabinet after numerous near-misses.