[WEC] Toyota LMP1 Discussion

[bentley speed 8]

That did take long, but they finally did it! Congrats Toyota for persevering through all these years

[XtC24]

Very happy I was wrong.


Now all these guys from Toyota are finally winners!

[J Jay]

Good things come to those who wait.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Good things come to those who wait.

That was a very long wait and now it's finally over. Toyota are Le Mans winners. They didn't hang about either. After numerous safety cars and yellows and slow zones, they still put up over 380 laps. Can't wait to see what the high downforce car can do in the heat of Silverstone. This is a perfect father's day gift!

[TheMightyM]

Originally Posted by TF110

That was a very long wait and now it's finally over. Toyota are Le Mans winners. They didn't hang about either. After numerous safety cars and yellows and slow zones, they still put up over 380 laps. Can't wait to see what the high downforce car can do in the heat of Silverstone. This is a perfect father's day gift!

Heat of Silverstone???

[TF110]

Originally Posted by TheMightyM

Heat of Silverstone???

The next race is Silverstone in August. The last time they had a race there in the summer was 2012 iirc. Usually it's the opening round of the WEC in April when it's cold and windy.

[Akrapovic]

I think you're overestimating the British summers lol. Silverstone can be cold in July. High up, flat, with no trees to break the wind.

[S griffin]

Only works team in LMP1, but they deserved it, they had no reliability problems and that is what has been the problem the last two LMs

[bobec]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Good things come to those who wait.

And those who keep trying hard

[Adam43]

Bloody brilliant.

[chernaudi]

Only factory team still standing in modern LMP1, but we have to remember to be fair that not all the Audi and Porsche wins over the years came against huge factory opposition either. Late '80s Group C and late '90s GT1 isn't just the exception to the rule, but IMO the exceptions that prove that rule. It's exceptionally rare that such things do happen.

Audi and Porsche had their fair share of successes at Le Mans, and IMO it's Toyota's turn. And they didn't lolly gag either. Until Kamui almost ran himself out of fuel, both cars were allowed to race each other.

A deserved win after being the hard luck team. Some of it was self inflected, some of it was pure bad luck, some of it a mix of both. But I do guess that sometimes if you keep trying you'll get it right.

[Matador]

Originally Posted by XtC24

"We will come back stronger next year"

Why Toyota is not going to win LM this year (and ever if they don’t change their approach)?

<snip>blah blah blah #hater.</snip>

You sir, can suck it.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I think you're overestimating the British summers lol. Silverstone can be cold in July. High up, flat, with no trees to break the wind.

It can be cold in lots of places in summer, like here in my area of the U.S. But hopefully in 2 months for the WEC race it's not.

[Coldasice]

The curse is finally broken! A Le Mans win is a Le Mans win. Nothing anyone says will ever take this away from Toyota. Not only did Toyota win it, they achieved a fairly tale ending, a 1-2 finish with both cars making it to the finish line.

After decades of on and off attempts at Le Mans and continual failures, Toyota FINALLY found the right formula to win. Extreme and unorthodox preparation of the team and drivers and cars in every sense, and an iron perseverance and calm cool perspective during the race.

It doesn't matter that Toyota didn't have direct factory competition. Every Le Mans, the biggest competition is the race itself, traffic and the weather. Some moron in a GT or LMP2 car could have taken out either Toyota. The track itself could have broken either or both cars. Toyota it seems learned from past failures and made a car strong enough to finally survive the race for 24 hours, yet also fast enough to win. Also even if some other car in traffic had taken out one of the Toyotas, I think Toyota was prepared for quick repairs. It seems this last off-season Toyota went to extreme lengths to make it easier and quicker to repair the car, but also to be mentally prepared for as much as possible.

Toyota weren't taking it easy during the race either. Both cars put down a lot of consistently fast laps. The two sister cars were also competition for each other in a bit of way.

When I read that Toyota in the off-season simulated random problems during 24 hour test sessions, it was a great thing to hear. This included a simulation of a car losing a wheel, and having to run on three wheels for the length of one Le Mans lap.

Now let's see if Toyota in the future can win again, to become the first Japanese manufacturer in history to be a multiple Le Mans winner.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by Coldasice

The curse is finally broken! A Le Mans win is a Le Mans win. Nothing anyone says will ever take this away from Toyota. Not only did Toyota win it, they achieved a fairly tale ending, a 1-2 finish with both cars making it to the finish line.

After decades of on and off attempts at Le Mans and continual failures, Toyota FINALLY found the right formula to win. Extreme and unorthodox preparation of the team and drivers and cars in every sense, and an iron perseverance and calm cool perspective during the race.

It doesn't matter that Toyota didn't have direct factory competition. Every Le Mans, the biggest competition is the race itself, traffic and the weather. Some moron in a GT or LMP2 car could have taken out either Toyota. The track itself could have broken either or both cars. Toyota it seems learned from past failures and made a car strong enough to finally survive the race for 24 hours, yet also fast enough to win. Also even if some other car in traffic had taken out one of the Toyotas, I think Toyota was prepared for quick repairs. It seems this last off-season Toyota went to extreme lengths to make it easier and quicker to repair the car, but also to be mentally prepared for as much as possible.

Toyota weren't taking it easy during the race either. Both cars put down a lot of consistently fast laps. The two sister cars were also competition for each other in a bit of way.

When I read that Toyota in the off-season simulated random problems during 24 hour test sessions, it was a great thing to hear. This included a simulation of a car losing a wheel, and having to run on three wheels for the length of one Le Mans lap.

Now let's see if Toyota in the future can win again, to become the first Japanese manufacturer in history to be a multiple Le Mans winner.

There was no way Toyota was going to let the other car win. No way at all. That’s been obvious since last November.

[Adam43]

Hurrah for the invention of the internet.

[TF110]

Here's the statement from the boss man Akio Toyoda on Toyota's win
https://newsroom.toyota.co.jp/en/toyota/23010728.html

I like that he acknowledges that they didn't get to face Porsche and beat them.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by peebee2

There was no way Toyota was going to let the other car win. No way at all. That’s been obvious since last November.

And who cares.....

[Irie]

It just occurred to me that with season none of the ex-Peugeot drivers are active drivers for Toyota anymore. Sarrazin still does LMP1, Davidson and Lapierre (I'm counting him even though he was a Oreca driver) are in LMP2 and Wurz has retired.
Maybe if Toyota fields more cars again in the near future we could see some of these back in the car I guess at least Sarrazin and Davidson. After 2017 I doubt Lapierre will ever be back again in a Toyota but I guess the same was said by many after the 2014 saga

[TF110]

This might be slightly off-topic, but it just might have to do with their future LMP/GTP(?) car https://newsroom.toyota.co.jp/en/toyota/23009821.html. This link confirms that Toyota are developing the "next generation super sports car". Based on the GR Super Sport Concept which looks like a modern Toyota GT-One

[hondafan37]

Originally Posted by TF110

This might be slightly off-topic, but it just might have to do with their future LMP/GTP(?) car https://newsroom.toyota.co.jp/en/toyota/23009821.html. This link confirms that Toyota are developing the "next generation super sports car". Based on the GR Super Sport Concept which looks like a modern Toyota GT-One

One of the Argentine media that was in the 24 hours of Le Mans with Pechito Lopez is informing that Pechito would be testing tomorrow the new Toyota car for the future regulation and that it should be based on this GR Super Sport Concept.
I wonder if Toyota is thinking of putting the new car on the track before Silverstone 2020.

Also some Spanish media are talking about of Alonso out of F1 in 2019.
Alonso could be part of the future projects of McLaren in Indycars and Le Mans (WEC) and in this way he could win in Indianapolis and get the Triple Crown.
https://www.mundodeportivo.com/motor...r-le-mans.html

[TF110]

Originally Posted by hondafan37

One of the Argentine media that was in the 24 hours of Le Mans with Pechito Lopez is informing that Pechito would be testing tomorrow the new Toyota car for the future regulation and that it should be based on this GR Super Sport Concept.
I wonder if Toyota is thinking of putting the new car on the track before Silverstone 2020.

Also some Spanish media are talking about of Alonso out of F1 in 2019.
Alonso could be part of the future projects of McLaren in Indycars and Le Mans (WEC) and in this way he could win in Indianapolis and get the Triple Crown.
https://www.mundodeportivo.com/motor...r-le-mans.html

Interesting information. At the Tokyo Auto Salon back in Janurary, it was said there that the Super Sport tested at Fuji already as well. So it looks like Toyota will be making this thing in the next year or two and if it's going to do double duty, road and track, they have a nice head start.

[Coldasice]

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/l...ce-notebook-4/

So Toyota anticipated their drivers making mistakes during the race (in this case specifically Kamui Kobayashi in the #7) and ending up with penalties. This is most impressive, and a further sign Toyota now understands what it takes to win Le Mans. The fact that the team was not surprised, that the team had anticipated this and that this was on the team's list so to speak means this was part of the extreme measures Toyota implemented in the off-season, and very likely was one of the simulated random problems during the off-season testing.

Toyota now seems to have the right mindset for future Le Mans attempts. This is the strategy that all top winning teams have used. To be able to not be phased or rattled as a team no matter what the Le Mans race throws at you, and to get through any such problems in a calm, collected and quick manner.

[S griffin]

Toyota had it all to lose and they left no stone unturned, hence a 1-2

[EffectiveSprinkles]

I did like how everyone in the world went wild when the #7 slowed, but Toyota themselves solved the problem in a calm manner and didn't beat around the bush about it as well.