[WEC] Toyota LMP1 Discussion

[Japanese Samurai]

According to latest Autosport magazine,
-front MGU trouble of #8 at LM24 was caused by assembly mistake.
-the reason why Toyota is struggling this season is tire marble pick-up.
Pick-up is occurred in lukewarm tire. Toyota couldn't warm up tire enough by braking heat due to Toyota style electric regeneration brake.
(On the other side, Toyota favors in hot temperature situation.)

[roderick]

Originally Posted by Japanese Samurai

According to latest Autosport magazine,
-front MGU trouble of #8 at LM24 was caused by assembly mistake.
-the reason why Toyota is struggling this season is tire marble pick-up.
Pick-up is occurred in lukewarm tire. Toyota couldn't warm up tire enough by braking heat due to Toyota style electric regeneration brake.
(On the other side, Toyota favors in hot temperature situation.)

Where did you get the info on Aisin Motor? I didn't think Toyota would make that a public.
The tire they are struggling with I believe is X-compound tire. They are harder but stable compound. (Car 8 tend to be testing these and Car7 is using standard V-spec tire)

[Japanese Samurai]

Originally Posted by roderick

Where did you get the info on Aisin Motor? I didn't think Toyota would make that a public.
The tire they are struggling with I believe is X-compound tire. They are harder but stable compound. (Car 8 tend to be testing these and Car7 is using standard V-spec tire)

These are Hisatake Murata (TMG boss) comments.

[Japanese Samurai]

Hisatake Murata confirms that they will introduce "Fuji special" spec TS050.
https://twitter.com/TOYOTA_GR/status/917325576972599296

[roderick]

Originally Posted by Japanese Samurai

Hisatake Murata confirms that they will introduce "Fuji special" spec TS050.
https://twitter.com/TOYOTA_GR/status/917325576972599296

Lighter gear box, more Hp from engine... Maybe?

[GasperG]

Originally Posted by roderick

It's true that Toyota is making GR brand Hypercar with WEC in mind.
Although
the car that's gonna be at the autoshow is only TH050 themed car and nothing like it on the inside.

They wont release the car for a while(2020ish) but the spec comparable with Top end hybrid super cars out there. (1000hp ~ 1200hp is the target)

However, this project is nothing to do with Toyota continuing WEC.
the only reason why the project is alive is due to some on(not gonna say who) said "I want to build a hyper car before I retire..."

Anyways, Let's look forward to Fuji!

I know that technically they won't be similar, it's the PR that drives these programs.

[TF110]

I think the boss man (Akio Toyoda) wants to go forward with the wec program and the hypercar. That is who I assume wants to make the hypercar. A true successor to the LFA but with Toyota's hybrid knowledge. It should be a monster of a vehicle. Looking forward to more info on the Fuji special!

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Japanese Samurai

According to latest Autosport magazine,
-front MGU trouble of #8 at LM24 was caused by assembly mistake.
-the reason why Toyota is struggling this season is tire marble pick-up.
Pick-up is occurred in lukewarm tire. Toyota couldn't warm up tire enough by braking heat due to Toyota style electric regeneration brake.
(On the other side, Toyota favors in hot temperature situation.)

Didn't Audi have similar tyre issues in 15/16? The latter R18s never seemed comfortable in cooler temperatures.

[chernaudi]

'15 they struggled in the nighttime hours (RCE suggested fuel flow meters were the main reason) and the '16 car was sort of like the original R15; did well everywhere else (when it worked) but didn't do worth a crap at LM.

[AoB Special Stage]

Originally Posted by TF110

I think the boss man (Akio Toyoda) wants to go forward with the wec program and the hypercar. That is who I assume wants to make the hypercar. A true successor to the LFA but with Toyota's hybrid knowledge. It should be a monster of a vehicle. Looking forward to more info on the Fuji special!

I do love Toyoda-san. I might be obligated to hate him because of my Honda ties, but it's so hard.

[LC2guy]

I'm quite worried for Toyota now. I thought a feel-good message about continuing was just waiting to be announced at their home race, along the lines of " We are commited and want to achieve a long time ambition to win the 24hrs of Le Mans ", but delaying makes me fear that they may be going. Now the mad scramble for Chassis for LMP1 privateers begins ....

[Adam43]

There is a danger of just reading too much into this. Little facts, big conclusions.

It could simply be a matter of timing, or even just there are details to be sorted. One, two, three cars. One, two, three years. All the races, one race. Using the time to pressure the ACO into making some changes that will reward their investment (not guaranteed win, but format, competition, entry costs, ...).

It might be it's all over, it always could be. Or it might just be a thing that they don't want to announce at this race. They design a road car with hybrid and this means they are staying. They don't have an announcement at a race and this means they are leaving. Speculation is cool, but sometimes on a forum it comes across as all as worthwhile or likely as each other piece of speculation.

I draw no conclusions. We'll see.

[Truckosaurus]

When's the deadline for entering the 2018 WEC?

Toyota have nothing to gain by making a decision until then. If I were them (and the usual 'What Would Truck do?' rules* apply) I'd be watching who is entering the LMP1 Privateer class and how the testing of those cars is going, to see how much competition they'd be at LM. If Toyota do continue then they want to be as certain as possible that they are going to win LM in 2018 and 2019 otherwise there's no point in spending millions to race against yourself or worse be beaten by 'tiny' teams.

* - WWTD Rules = When making a decision, do the opposite of what I would do.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by TF110

Racing private/small teams never hurt Porsche or Audi's claim of Le Mans wins.

Audi raced nothing but privateers with their works team exactly once (2006), all other times had either factory opposition in class on the grid or it was privateer efforts fielding the cars.

A large-scale works team like TMG racing nothing but privateers for years on end would be pretty much unprecedented in the past 25 years.

[Adam43]

I don't think the comment needs dissecting so much. It has a level of validity. We all understand the context and nuances.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by LC2guy

I'm quite worried for Toyota now. I thought a feel-good message about continuing was just waiting to be announced at their home race, along the lines of " We are commited and want to achieve a long time ambition to win the 24hrs of Le Mans ", but delaying makes me fear that they may be going. Now the mad scramble for Chassis for LMP1 privateers begins ....

There isn't really a delay, actually. They make a decision on the next year around the same time every season, being the end of October. It's only prevalent now because everyone else in terms of manufacturers have dropped out. Obviously the focus is on "when is Toyota going to announce their plans".

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by TF110

There isn't really a delay, actually. They make a decision on the next year around the same time every season, being the end of October. It's only prevalent now because everyone else in terms of manufacturers have dropped out. Obviously the focus is on "when is Toyota going to announce their plans".

The state of play:

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/t...ture-decision/

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Bentley03

The state of play:

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/t...ture-decision/

Read that earlier. Seems like more of the same talk from before. We'll find out soon. It's in the WEC's court to come out with the rules for next year then I think we will see a reaction. I would say that's reasonable with the new super season and upgraded private lmp1's.

[Damian Baldi]

The more time Toyota takes to announce their decision, the less are the possibilities to see new P1 teams before the "first" Le Mans.

ACO needs Toyota for the money and prestige, but Toyota it's a problem for the P1 private teams.

In my opinion Toyota should present four cars, two hybrids and two normal P1 as Audi did in the past. This way they could win the race and show how much effective is the hybrid system while they present competition to the private teams over the same rules. It's utopic, but it's the only way to legitimate a win.

If Toyota announce they decline to present cars for the next seasson, I'm sure we will see private teams grow like mushrooms from the ground.

[S griffin]

Toyota need to stay. Not only have they got a better chance of winning LM now, they now should have some competition from Ginetta. LMP1 is nowhere near death

[roderick]

I dont know why we are still on the topic of Toyota staying or not.
They are going to stay for the most or all the races with TWO cars.

They are already making plans for next season so don't worry!
although, there is huge cost cutting needs to be done. (Last I heard, they've only got 2/3 or what they spent this year)

[TF110]

Originally Posted by roderick

I dont know why we are still on the topic of Toyota staying or not.
They are going to stay for the most or all the races with TWO cars.

They are already making plans for next season so don't worry!
although, there is huge cost cutting needs to be done. (Last I heard, they've only got 2/3 or what they spent this year)

Use this year's car with minor upgrades. It was very capable afterall (3:14 at LeMans qualifying)! That should suffice. Concentrate on reliability and tire wear in testing/upgrading.

[S griffin]

Well I’m glad Toyota are making positive noises about staying, so that’s good for both them and the series

[rich07]

http://www.evo.co.uk/toyota/13960/ne...oo-racing-name

I noticed this little snippet and wonder how up to date this is

For a sports car we will look at smaller batteries that are charged with the very best regeneration braking system; a system that we have been developing in the World Endurance Championship,” continued the Gazoo Racing President. Tomoyoma also confirmed Toyota is to compete in the World Endurance Championship in 2018 and has no plans to enter Formula E.

Who knows when the interview was conducted.

[MaskedRacer]

Maybe 7 LMP1s? 2 Toyotas, 2 SMP Dallaras, 2 Ginnettas (a p2 team switching to them maybe), 1 CLM.