Toyota abandons special Le Mans record run plans
Toyota has abandoned plans for a specific run aimed at substantially bettering its lap record around the Circuit de la Sarthe as part of its bid for a third consecutive Le Mans 24 Hours victory.
The Japanese manufacturer had expressed interest in trying to lower Kamui Kobayashi's 2017 pole-winning laptime of 3m14.791s ahead of the start of the 2019/20 WEC season.
This would have likely involved a special attempt with the TS050 Hybrid running outside of the LMP1 Equivalence of Technology and success handicap rules, given the car's weight for the current campaign is 932kg, up from 888kg at Le Mans last year.
Outside of race week itself, the only other chances to make such an effort this year would have been at the Le Mans test day on May 31 or the Le Mans Classic on July 3-5.
Toyota team director Rob Leupen said that the latter option was seriously considered, but Toyota ultimately decided against doing so because the comparatively poor state of the track would have meant there would be no guarantee of actually bettering the existing record.
“We looked into the possibility of attempting a new lap record during the Le Mans Classic and everyone was very motivated to do this," Leupen told Motorsport.com.
"We are sure our TS050 Hybrid can substantially improve on Kamui’s existing lap record, but unfortunately it turned out to be impractical.
"Following detailed study, we concluded that the track conditions at the Classic will be significantly worse than during Le Mans qualifying and this would probably mean a record attempt would be unsuccessful.”
Toyota technical director Pascal Vasselon also pointed out that trying to juggle a Le Mans record attempt with its Le Mans hypercar preparations for the start of the 2019/20 season would have been difficult for the Cologne-based organisation.
He highlighted the differences between Toyota's situation and those of Porsche and Volkswagen, which embarked on lap record-setting tours over the last two years with the 919 Hybrid Evo and I.D. R electric prototype respectively.
"The big difference is that these two organisations have spent a long time without racing, and they have the structure ready," said Vasselon. "They are eager to do these lap records.
"Our structure at the moment is very loaded with LMP1 and preparations for LMH [hypercar]."
Rosenqvist set for Le Mans return with DragonSpeed
Le Mans releases 62-car 2020 entry list
Celebrating the weird and wonderful monsters of sportscar racing
Few disciplines of motorsport offer better possibilities to build a colossus of the track than sportscars. For Autosport's recent Monsters of Motorsport special issue, we picked out some of the finest (and not so fine) that have graced sportscar classics including Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring
The remarkable fixes Toyota used to avert another Le Mans disaster
The 1-2 finish achieved by Toyota at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours was a result that will have surprised few, given its status as pre-event favourite. But the result was anything but straightforward, as worsening fuel pressure concerns required the team's drivers and engineers to pursue "creative fixes" on the fly. Here is the full story of how it reached the end without a lengthy pit visit
Inside the Le Mans finish too barmy for Hollywood
Team WRT has been at the forefront of GT racing for years and made a successful move to prototypes for 2021, capped by an LMP2 win on its Le Mans debut. It could've been even better had the race been one lap shorter, when its cars ran 1-2, but the stranger-than-fiction reality has spurred the team to reach greater heights.
Why Toyota's Le Mans victory was not as simple as it looked
Toyota scored its fourth Le Mans 24 Hours victory and a 1-2, with the #7 car of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez beating the #8. But although it looked straightforward from the outside, Toyota faced serious problem that had to be solved with some quick-thinking and ingenuity.
What we've learned from the Le Mans 24 Hours so far
The new dawn for the FIA World Endurance Championship has arrived at Le Mans, as Hypercars prepare to duel for victory in the world's oldest endurance race. Motorsport.com picks out the 10 things we have learned in the build up to the race.
Le Mans 2021: The team-by-team guide
After a two-month delay due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours is set to get underway with the start of the Hypercar era at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
The ex-F1 drivers making a name for themselves in LMP2 at Le Mans
Kevin Magnussen will make his Le Mans 24 Hours debut this weekend alongside father Jan in LMP2. But the Danes won't be the only ex-F1 drivers to appear in the hotly contested category this year.
Can Toyota's #7 crew break its Le Mans curse?
One Toyota, normally with the number 7 on the side, always seems to attract the bad luck in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez are hoping for a change in fortune this time around, but face significantly more unknowns than in recent years