[WEC] Toyota LMP1 Discussion

[TF110]

Thomas Laurent will drive the TS050 at the end of the season Bahrain rookie test. And it looks like all the major motorsports news sites are reporting Toyota wants to stay but wants to know the regulations for the lmp1s next season.

[S griffin]

LMP1 is looking good, so no reason for Toyota not to stay IMHO. Hopefully they will, they seem to be making positive noises about staying

[chernaudi]

A first ever from Toyota: Twin diveplanes on the front fenders:

[TF110]

I too noticed that. They put up a picture on their twitter feed late last night before practice one from the rear 3/4's



You can see they also changed the cooling slot underneath the headlights

[chernaudi]

The TS030/40 and up to now the -50 never had more than one per side of the car, and of course the GT-One, having raced only at LM and pre-Tilke Fuji never ran with any diveplanes.

I think this it Toyota recognizing that tire deg is a big deal at Shanghai and Bahrain, and they've had tire issues at Nurburgring and Mexico. Could also be them getting a jump on next season.

[bobec]

Cool looking diveplanes. I don't think I've ever seen any like that. They look a bit like the sharklets on the A350's wings.

[hondafan37]

Pascal Vasselon said:
Aero updates rolled out on the Toyota TS050 Hybrid have been made possible due to its decision to freeze car development for next year.

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/t...downforce-kit/

[TF110]

Like I was saying earlier in the thread, use this year's car for next season (super season). No reason to develop the car extensively since it's already breaking records, it'll be plenty fast enough without any major manufacturer joining. Maybe the budget they have can be used to get Alonso onboard and run the team instead of committing more money towards development. Sounds like a win win to me.

[roderick]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

A first ever from Toyota: Twin diveplanes on the front fenders:

They had Two diveplanes on one of Fuji kit(The photo is in the latest Auto-Sports Magazine)
I Believe they tested it out on their free practice sessions.

Personally, Areo kit above the front splitter is more interesting and is new.
They used this to reduce marbles and rubber getting into their vents as well as keeping their tires last longer.

PS:I hear Lopez might go next year...

[AoB Special Stage]

Originally Posted by roderick

PS:I hear Lopez might go next year...

Hallelujah.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by TF110

Like I was saying earlier in the thread, use this year's car for next season (super season). No reason to develop the car extensively since it's already breaking records, it'll be plenty fast enough without any major manufacturer joining. Maybe the budget they have can be used to get Alonso onboard and run the team instead of committing more money towards development. Sounds like a win win to me.

Extra budget usage ... http://www.racer.com/imsa/item/14552...sa-dpi-options




L.P.

[Damian Baldi]

Originally Posted by roderick

PS:I hear Lopez might go next year...

Two mistakes in a race is difficult to forget, but it would be too extreme to put him out just because his lack or experience. I'm not saying that he is the new Tom Kristensen, but he showed his speed. If we see the season in retrospective, Hartley has let the Porscehe upside down at Silverstone. Tandy has crashed the 919 with the official 911 at Spa years ago. McNish at Le Mans....

Toyota should make him race at IMSA to get more experience, as Conway do.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Extra budget usage ... http://www.racer.com/imsa/item/14552...sa-dpi-options




L.P.

I think the new lmp1 rules will be the 'same' as the new DPi rules. No reason to develop two cars, Toyota can use the same one in both series. That would be ideal for any manufacturer that wants to make a car. And we already hear this from multiple parties wanting to join, such as McLaren.

As for Pechito, I doubt he's going anywhere. He just needs more time in the car in the races to get experience. Kobayashi had issues with traffic when he joined, now he's often times their fastest guy. Nakajima had traffic issues too, but he's come along well.

[Victor_RO]

Dailysportscar reporting one F. Alonso was recently at TMG for a seat fitting.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

Dailysportscar reporting one F. Alonso was recently at TMG for a seat fitting.

The confirmation of his drive is all that's lacking right now. If he does the rookie test at Bahrain it wouldn't surprise me with this news!

[AoB Special Stage]

Originally Posted by TF110

The confirmation of his drive is all that's lacking right now. If he does the rookie test at Bahrain it wouldn't surprise me with this news!

Isn't Laurent doing the whole test for TGR?

[bentley speed 8]

They can do like Porsche did with Montoya's test a couple of years ago (I recall it was done during the same rookie test?)

[Articus]

Wouldn't this confirm Toyota in 2018? With the drivers titles decided everywhere I would put Alonso in for Bahrain.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by AoB Special Stage

Isn't Laurent doing the whole test for TGR?

They can do more than one driver. Last year when the Bahrain test took place, the regular race drivers took part as well as the rookie. I don't see any rule that says only the chosen rookie driver can test for them. Like Kubica testing for ByKolles alongside Francesco Dracone.

[Graham Goodwin]

Originally Posted by AoB Special Stage

Isn't Laurent doing the whole test for TGR?

Thomas gets 30 laps minimum

[Mike E]

How would this Alonso thing work over the full 2018/19 super season?

With a maximum of 3 drivers permitted per car, does Toyota sacrifice one driver's championship by standing them down in favour of Alonso at LM?
Or do they run two drivers in one car except for LM?
Or do they rotate young drivers through the third seat except at LM? Although that could affect the other two drivers' championship run.
And does he get two bites of the cherry, in '18 and '19, since the full championship would already be affected in some way for a third driver in that car.

All assuming Toyota actually pull the trigger on this thing...

[S griffin]

Seems Fred is getting closer and closer to that dream LM drive. It’s so nice to see him doing more than F1, just like the drivers of old used to

[J Jay]

Hopefully Alonso in a Toyota LMP1 proves to be too much bad luck for the universe to handle!

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Mike E

How would this Alonso thing work over the full 2018/19 super season?

With a maximum of 3 drivers permitted per car, does Toyota sacrifice one driver's championship by standing them down in favour of Alonso at LM?
Or do they run two drivers in one car except for LM?
Or do they rotate young drivers through the third seat except at LM? Although that could affect the other two drivers' championship run.
And does he get two bites of the cherry, in '18 and '19, since the full championship would already be affected in some way for a third driver in that car.

All assuming Toyota actually pull the trigger on this thing...

Maybe he gets to run a third car with others like Hirakawa or Kunimoto, Sarrazin?

[AoB Special Stage]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Hopefully Alonso in a Toyota LMP1 proves to be too much bad luck for the universe to handle!

Hmm?