Category: Toyota

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2014 Le Mans video updates

#7 Toyota TS040 Hybrid

The 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans is approaching half race distance and to date the race has been dominated by the #7 Toyota TS040 Hybrid. Alex Wurz is at the wheel right now and he holds a lead of over 2 minutes from the #2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro with André Lotterer at the wheel.

Intermittent and heavy rain patches affected the race early and ended the chances of the #8 Toyota and #3 Audi after a coming together on the Mulsanne Straight. The Toyota was able to limp back into the pits and get back running again and it’s now in P6 13 laps behind the leader. Alas for the Audi its race was over.

Porsche seemed to be running a split strategy with its two 919 Hybrids. The #14 car was running hot early in the race, mixing it with the leaders, until an electrical glitch limiting the car’s speed after 30 minutes forced the car into pitlane. Meanwhile, Timo Bernhard’s more circumspect approach in the #20 919 paid dividends when for a short while he lead the race. His lack of outright pace made him vulnerable, though, and Bernhard was soon swallowed up by the #7 Toyota and the #2 and #1 Audis.

Mark Webber has finally had his first competition experience at Le Mans after two failed attempts in the late 90s with Mercedes. He put in some solid laps, driving well into the night, but said after his stint they’re having to manage some problems. The car is running relatively smoothly in fourth place but is two laps behind.

There’s a selection of video highlights for you after the break, along with the following links to help you foolow the action.

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MINI Toyota Video

VIDEO: Episode 6 of Project Binky

Project Binky

Nik and Richard from Bad Obsession Motorsport are back with the latest episode of Project Binky, which is surely the internet’s coolest build project.

As you can see from the still above the bodywork of the old Austin Mini has been pretty well taken care of. There’s not a lot of the old car left. But don’t let that for one minute devalue this project, which is a testament to the engineering skills on display.

It’s taken almost a full year to get Project Binky to this stage and there’s still so much work to do. The good news for us is that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Nik and RIchard doing their thing. The bad news for them is it must feel like a project with no light at the end of an increasingly long tunnel.

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Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

Toyota claims pole for 2014 Le Mans

2014 24 Hours of Le Mans qualifying

The third and final qualifying session for the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans has just finished and the #7 Toyota TS040 Hybrid (Wurz/Sarrazin/Nakajima) has claimed pole position with a time of 3:21.789, set by Kazuki Nakajima.

Porsche’s return to the outright category has gone well so far with its #14 919 Hybrid (Dumas/Jani/Lieb) posting a best lap of 3:22.146, good enough to be on the front row. The #20 Porsche (Bernhard/Webber/Hartley) will start from P4 (3:22.908). This car held provisional pole (3:24.136) after Wednesday’s qualifying, but did not improve its time.

Audi had a less than smooth qualifying after a massive crash by Loic Duval in the #1 R18 e-tron quattro during the opening session on Wednesday. Remarkably, he suffered no serious injury but has been ruled out of the race and has been replaced by Marc Gene. The car was a total wreck an Audi has used a new tub to build a new car and will start with three cars as planned.

The best placed R18 is the #3 car (Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Jarvis) which will start from P5 (3:23.271). Starting from P6 will be the #2 R18 (Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer) with a best time of 3:24.276. The recreated #1 R18 (Di Grassi/Gene/Kristensen) is the last placed of the main front runners and will line up from P7 after setting a time of 3:25.814.

Toyota’s second TS040 will line up from P3 after the #8 car (Davidson/Lapierre/Buemi) lapped the 13.6km Le Mans circuit in 3:22.523.

Taking a look at the total lap count of the top seven cars from qualifying is interesting. The Toyotas and Audis had lap counts in the high 30s, while the Porsche lap counts were in the mid-teens. There’s probably countless theories as to why the 919 was relatively inactive, but if nothing else the car clearly has raw pace.

We’ve got an onboard video for you after the break, filmed from the #7 Toyota TS040. We’ll also update this post with official statements from the three main teams as they come to hand.

[Source: Autosport]

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Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

Toyota favourites heading to Le Mans

WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans official test session

The Toyota TS040 Hybrid has firmed as the car to beat at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. Two wins in the opening rounds of the WEC season had already set up Toyota as the 2014 front runners and the TS040’s abilities at the Circuit de la Sarthe were confirmed after last weekend’s official test session, when the two Toyotas topped the lap charts.

Two weeks out from the event this is the only opportunity for the teams get to run the full Le Mans layout. After the two day session the fastest time around the 13.6km circuit was set by the #8 Toyota (3:23:014).

Audi set the early pace with its R18 e-tron quattro, but in the end the defending champions had to make do with the third and fourth best times. Audi is the only of the LMP1 teams to run three cars and the remaining R18 split the two Porsche 919 Hybrids. The #14 Porsche was fifth and Mark Webber’s #20 919 the seventh and slowest of the factory-backed LMP1 runners.

Full statements from the three teams can be read after the break. The 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans will take place on 14–15 June with Australian television coverage available on Foxtel’s Speed TV channel.

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VIDEO: 11 minutes of Juha

Juha Kankkunen

Juha Kankkunen is rallying royalty. His four world championships (1986, 1987, 1991, 1993) and 23 rally wins (a record at the time) have earned him that honour.

Here’s a fan made tribute video showcasing some of Kankkunen’s best work. You’ll enjoy the sights and sounds we’re sure and when you make it to the end you can share a drink with the Finnish great.

[via Motor Sport Retro]

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Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

Toyota wins 2014 6hrs of Spa

2014 6 Hours of Spa

Toyota has set itself up as the favourite for Le Mans after taking victory in the 6 Hours of Spa on the weekend. The #8 TS040 backed up its success at Silverstone with another win, while the #7 sister car came home third.

Splitting the two Toyotas was the #1 Audi R18, with all three cars completeing 171 laps of the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

The #14 Porsche 919, which started from pole position, started well and established a lead of over 10 seconds in the first stint before a few minor issues with the hybrid system required attention. In the end Porsche had to be satisfied with fourth place, one lap behind the leaders.

A pair of Audi R18s filled positions five and six, with the #3 car running in low downforce Le Mans trim—the only of the three LMP1 teams to do so. Audi will be heading to the Circuit de la Sarthe with a lot more work to do than it is used to. The challenge from Toyota appears very real this year.

The #20 Porsche 919 of Mark Webber, had problems throughout the race. First with the rear dampers and later with the front drive shaft. They were able to finish the race but were 23 laps behinf the winning Toyota.

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MINI Toyota Video

VIDEO: Episode 5 of Project Binky

Project Binky

It’s been two months since the last Project Binky update and when you see the amount of work that’s happened since Episode 4 and then think about how much is still left to do, well, it’s actually quite frightening.

The amount of respect and admiration these guys deserve can hardly be measured.

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Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

Toyota wins 2014 6hrs of Silverstone

2014 6 Hours of Silverstone

The 2014 WEC season got off to the best possible start overnight after Toyota claimed a dominant 1–2 victory in a rain affected 6 Hours of Silverstone. Two laps behind the winning #8 Toyota TS040 (Davidson, Lapierre, Buemi) was the #20 Porsche 919 (Bernhard, Hartley, Webber). That result marks a promising return to the LMP1 category for Porsche.

“The team did a fantastic job all weekend,” said Anthony Davidson after the victory. “It looked like it would be an epic fight with Audi and Porsche if it had stayed dry, but we knew the rain was coming and we had set our car up for wet conditions.

“We made the right call on tyres, the strategy was just perfect; that’s how you win races.”

Defending champions Audi had a race to forget with both the R18s crashing out of contention. Luca di Grassi was at the wheel when the #1 R18 went out early in proceedings, while the #2 car lasted until mid-race distance having lost time due to a separate incident in the first hour.

The #14 Porsche 919 also went off-track briefly, although no major damage was done. However, its race came to an end early in the second hour due to a “technical problem”. This highlights how valuable the third place for the #20 car was, enabling the team to gather valuable track time and experience in addition to championship points.

In a three horse race, with two established rivals and a new kid on the block, this set of results builds anticipation for the 6 Hours of Spa in two weeks.

The Audis have shown they have raw pace, setting the fastest single lap in both qualifying and the race, and with multiple championships behind them they’re unlikely to repeat the double blunder we saw here at Silverstone.

Toyota has built on its LMP1 experience and this result will give them confidence to carry its momentum to Spa. While Porsche has shown it can have the reliability it needs to keep its more fancied rivals honest.

“It’s been a brilliant day for us,” Mark Webber siad post-race. “I’m happy to have played a small role in the effort that’s gone in from the team and everyone back at the factory to get to this point.

“Timo and Brendon drove exceptionally as well. It was unfortunate for the other car, but it wasn’t their day. It was a tough race for all the drivers with tricky conditions, and drizzle on slick tyres is never easy. We managed to dodge a few bullets and survived some of the tricky phases.

“It was a great experience for me, I learnt so much today in the race. We were spot on with the pit stops in terms of the tyre strategy.”

Official race reports and photos from Toyota, Porsche and Audi can be viewed after the break.

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Toyota

You’re looking at a mutually beneficial relationship

Toyota logo

One of the industry types we follow on twitter is a bloke by the name of Scott Brownlee. He works in the PR department for Toyota UK. He often posts links to interesting stuff, yes really, and he first caught our attention prior to the release of the 86. Or perhaps it was during Le Mans one year.

Anyway, Brownlee has just posted this link which explains the meaning behind the Toyota logo. As a graphic designer by day your AUSmotive editor finds this sort of stuff quite interesting. Not in the least because it’s fun seeing how other designers post-rationalise their solutions:

The three ovals in the Toyota logo are linked in a horizontally symmetrical layout – so it is recognisable both head-on and when seen in a rear-view mirror.

The inner ovals symbolise the heart of the customer and the heart of the company, overlapping to represent a mutually beneficial relationship and trust between the two, as well as forming a ‘T’ shape for Toyota. The outer oval one signifies the world embracing Toyota.

Each oval is drawn with different stroke thicknesses, pointing to Japanese calligraphy art and culture.

The space in the background within the logo is meant to exhibit the ‘infinite values’ which Toyota stands for. These are: superb quality, value beyond expectation, the joy of driving, innovation, and integrity in safety, the environment and social responsibility.

That’s pretty good stuff. Almost as good as the stuff they were smoking when they came up with that explanation!

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Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

Porsche fastest at two-day WEC Prologue

Porsche 919 Hybrid

The Porsche 919 Hybrid headed the field after the WEC’s official two-day Prologue test at Paul Ricard on the weekend. The #20 car of Mark Webber went fastest during the Friday evening session when Brendon Hartley posted a lap time of 1:41.289.

Hartley’s teammates, Timo Bernhard and Webber, also broke the 1:42 barrier on the first day of testing. The #2 Audi R18 with Andre Lotterer at the wheel set the next best time of the weekend when he went 1:42.073 on Friday afternoon.

Romain Dumas, driving the #14 919, recorded the third quickest lap with a best time of 1:42.126. Toyota’s fastest lap in the TS040 of 1:42.356 came during the Friday afternoon session.

There were two sessions run on Saturday, which were slower overall. The best times were in the 1:43s and were set by the #1 and #2 Audi R18s of Tom Kristensen and Marcel Fassler.

With the more open nature of the new LMP1 regulations it’s difficult to compare like with like. Aside from the different engine configurations found in the three factory LMP1 teams the Audi R18 can use up to 2MJ of recovered energy per lap, while the Porsche 919 and Toyota TS040 can use up to 6MJ. This means the regulations employ a complex measure of how much fuel each car can use per lap in order to try and keep performance as even as possible.

It’s probably best just to worry about which car is fastest against the clock and, if you care enough, then start looking into the reasons why. Needless to say all three teams were claiming success after the Prologue, saying that testing went to their pre-arranged schedules. It seems everyone’s a winner. For now.

The real winner will be known in a few weeks when the flag drops and the bullshit stops when racing begins in earnest at the 6 Hours of Silverstone on 20 April.

Speaking after the Prologue Mark Webber explained just getting through the team’s program was a bonus for Porsche: “This test here was a big milestone. To enter two cars for the first time was a tremendous amount of hard work for the crew on the operational side.

“Smooth running was a well-deserved award and a good tonic for the guys after a long week. Every day we run we find more areas to improve, which is very encouraging. The track lay-out at Paul Ricard seems to suit our car very well. I’m curious to find out how we can perform in Silverstone.”

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Toyota WEC

Toyota TS040 Hybrid revealed

Toyota TS040 Hybrid

Toyota Racing has launched its 2014 challenger, the TS040 Hybrid. The team will continue to run a two car program with the same drivers as before, although the pairings have been slightly rearranged.

As in Formula 1 new regulation changes have been introduced for the 2014 season. Two of the main changes include a 100mm reduction in width of the cars and they must now use 25% less fuel compared with last year.

Despite the need to reduce fuel use these LMP1 cars have some serious grunt. The TS040 has a combined maximum power output of 736kW (1000PS). That power is produced thanks to a 383kW normally aspirated 3.7 litre V8 and 353kW of “all-wheel drive hybrid boost”.

There’s a video animation below which illustrates how the new all-wheel drive system works in the TS040, along with a bunch of pics and a brief press statement from Toyota Racing.

An official two day pre-season test session for all WEC cars begins later tonight.

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Toyota WRC

Toyota begins testing Yaris WRC

Toyota Yaris Hybrid-R concept

Toyota first hinted it could be interested in a return to the WRC almost two years ago and this week it is testing a Yaris-based WRC ahead of an expected come back to top line rallying in 2017.

Motorsport Italia is currently running the test program in Tuscany on behalf of the European-based Toyota Motorsport GmbH. Toyota factory driver Stephane Sarrazin has joined Finnish driver Sebastian Lindholm for the test sessions.

Toyota president Akio Toyoda was an interested onlooker at Rallye Monte Carlo in January and when pressed on the issue of a possible return to the WRC by journalists he happily obliged.

“Toyota would like to come back to the WRC,” Toyoda said. “But it is difficult to give a concrete timing to this. I said the same thing two years ago, but the distance is gradually getting closer.

“I would like to hear messages that fans want Toyota to challenge the WRC again. Then, the distance might be even closer.

“Personally I would like to see a Japanese manufacturer compete in the WRC again.”

Next year has been ruled out, meaning the earliest possible return would be 2016. However with new regulations to be implemented for the 2017 season Toyota may see fit to wait until then.

Speaking to Autosport in January a TMG source said: “We are building the car [Yaris WRC] to current regulations, but this is to give us experience of running a car like this.

“Certainly we are not looking at running the car in 2015, that’s far too soon.

“It’s more likely that we would wait for the next generation of WRC regulations, which I believe come in 2017.”

[Source: Autosport]

UPDATE: A video of the Yaris WRC prototype in action has been added below.

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