Toyota Racing will debut its 2013-spec TS030 Hybrid at the Six-Hours of Spa-Francorchamps this weekend for the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
The new car features modifications to both the chassis and the drivetrain, increasing performance, reliability and serviceability. A new aerodynamic packing, including an updated monocoque, improves performance while conforming to the 2013 regulations weight increase for LMP1 cars by 15kg.
The power once again comes from a unique super capacitor to deliver 300hp of boost automatically, on top of the 3.4-litre normally-aspirated V8 petrol engine delivering 530hp.
“Spa is one of two home races for our team, along with Fuji Speedway, so it is the perfect place to debut our 2013-specification car which we expect will show a performance improvement.” said Team President Yoshiaki Kinoshita. “Audi demonstrated in Silverstone that we need to make a step to regain the race-winning form we showed last year and I am confident our updated car will deliver. Nevertheless, our 2012-specification car remains competitive and it will be interesting to see how the race plays out.”
The #7 car of Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima will drive the updated car at Spa, while the #8 of Anthony Davidson, Stephane Sarrazin and Sebastien Buemi, who took third at the opening round in Silverstone, will compete again in a 2012-spec machine.
“Testing has gone well so I’m excited to see what the car can do in race conditions.” added Wurz. “Our target will be to improve on our Silverstone result and fine-tune the updated car at the same time. In Spa you can never predict the weather. If it’s dry you have great sensations because it’s a very fast track which is fun to drive; it’s a very good circuit for LMP1 cars. If the weather is mixed or wet it’s very challenging, but I don’t mind because Spa is cool in most conditions.”
