Toyota have revealed a revised TS030 Hybrid to spearhead their FIA World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans challenges for 2013.
The team will test their first full test of the 2013-specification TS030 Hybrid at Paul Ricard tomorrow (Wednesday).
Toyota made an impressive debut in 2012, with Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima sharing three victories in just six races for the #7 car.
“In the second half of last year we were the fastest car on the grid” explained Wurz, “we know Audi will not stand still so we need to continue pushing and increasing our performance level. I’m really looking forward to racing with the updated car. The guys have worked incredibly hard to fine-tune everything and we can feel a definite improvement.”
2013 will also see the first full season for Anthony Davidson, Stephane Sarrazin and Sebastien Buemi in the #8, which only raced at Le Mans in 2012.
“The big target for me is to win Le Mans for the first time.” said Davidson “This year it is a decade since I first raced there so I have a lot of experience and I feel ready to win. When you are racing for a manufacturer team, especially one like TOYOTA Racing that has won WEC races so recently, it’s easy to set a target. I’m not here to make up the numbers; I am here to win.”
The team retain the Toyota Hybrid system for 2013, which delivers 300hp of boost, on top of the 530hp generated by the 3.4litre V8 petrol engine.
There were also a couple of tweaks to the aerodynamic package, including an updated monocoque, will seek to make the most out of the new 2013 regulations, which sees a weight increase of 15kg for LMP1 cars.
“Last year’s performance was very satisfying” said Technical Director Pascal Vasselon “We felt we ticked most boxes so there has been no concept change, just refinement and optimization of the 2012 car. Retaining the same drivers was an easy choice. As well as showing impressive speed and great team spirit, they all contributed to developing the car and team during our first season. With a limited testing programme, their experience and dedication was a major factor in helping us win races in our first season of WEC. We cannot imagine a stronger driver line-up with which to approach next season.”
