Toyota TS040 Hybrid

Toyota TS040 Hybrid

The No.8 TS040 at the 2014 6 Hours of Silverstone
Category	LMP1-H
Constructor	Toyota Motorsport GmbH
Predecessor	Toyota TS030 Hybrid
Successor	Toyota TS050 Hybrid
Technical specifications
Chassis	Carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb monocoque
Suspension (front)	Independent
Suspension (rear)	Independent
Length	4650 mm (2015)
Width	1900 mm (2015)
Height	1050 mm (2015)
Engine	Toyota 3.7 L 90-degree V8 aspirated Normally aspirated mid, longitudinally mounted
Transmission	Reverse + 7-gear Sequential
Fuel	Total (other competitions) Shell (WEC)
Lubricants	Total
Competition history
Notable entrants	Toyota Racing
Notable drivers	Alexander Wurz Nicolas Lapierre Kazuki Nakajima Mike Conway Anthony Davidson Stéphane Sarrazin Sébastien Buemi Test Sam Bird Jean-Éric Vergne Kamui Kobayashi Pipo Derani Sam Bird Mathias Beche Andrea Caldarelli
Debut	2014 6 Hours of Silverstone
Races Wins Poles F.Laps 14 5 4 4
Constructors' Championships	1 (2014 FIA WEC)
Drivers' Championships	1 (2014 FIA WEC)

The Toyota TS040 Hybrid is a racing car developed for the 2014 Le Mans Prototype rules in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The car is the direct successor to the Toyota TS030 Hybrid, which competed in the 2012 and 2013 FIA WEC seasons.

Development

During the 2013 WEC season, Toyota announced that it would continue racing in the 2014 WEC and would thus develop a new LMP1 car for the 2014 Le Mans Prototype regulations.^[1] More details were revealed by Toyota Racing technical director Pascal Vasselon at the WEC São Paulo round on August 31.^[2] The TS040 will continue to use a naturally-aspirated V8 engine with a supercapacitor system mounted on the rear axle. The 2014 car, however, will add an additional supercapacitor system on the front axle to allow the car to use temporary Four-wheel drive.^[3] The car was officially unveiled on March 27, 2014. The car made its debut at the 2014 6 Hours of Silverstone on April 20, 2014.^[4]

On December 2, 2013, Toyota Racing announced that it had re-signed all of its 2013 drivers: Alexander Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre, Kazuki Nakajima, Anthony Davidson, Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi. In addition, Toyota Racing signed British driver Mike Conway as a reserve and testing driver.^[5]

Racing history

2014

The season started with the 6 Hours of Silverstone and the first race of the new LMP1-H rules. Toyota and Audi both brought new cars and were joined by the returning Porsche. In qualifying, the No.7 Toyota took pole position with a combined time of 1m44.774s in the hands of Alex Wurz and Kazuki Nakajima, only 0.005s ahead of the second placed Audi.^[6] In the race, the No.8 Toyota took the victory with the No.7 in 2nd after the race was shortened with 26 minutes from the end due to heavy rain.^[7] It was the team's first 1-2 finish in the WEC.

At the second round of the championship, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the TS040s qualified 2nd and 4th in damp conditions with the No.8 and No.7 respectively.^[8] In the race, the No.8 took Toyota's second win of the season with a margin of 1m13s and the No.7 finishing 3rd.^[9] The No.8 car also scored the fastest lap of the race in the hands of Anthony Davidson with a time of 2m01.327s.

At the official test day for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 1 June, the Toyotas were fastest, placing first and second on the overall time sheets.^[10]

The No.7 TS040 started the 24 Hours of Le Mans from pole, and took the early lead. The No.8 was caught out in a sudden downpour and suffered heavy damage in the hands of Lapierre, losing 50 minutes of time for repairs. The No.7 would continue to lead through the night, only to have a wiring loom failure and officially retire after 13 hours and 53 minutes.^[11] The remaining TS040 No.8 continued with the race and eventually finished 3rd.

After a long break the season restarted with the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas in Texas. The No.8 claimed pole position in the hands of Buemi and Davidson, whilst the No.7 qualified 5th.^[12] The No.8 took the lead in the initial stages, until a heavy rain shower caught out driver Nicolas Lapierre, who became beached in the gravel. The No.7 also suffered in the rain, losing a lap to the leaders in the red flag.^[13] Once the race was restarted, both cars continued and eventually finished with the No.8 in 3rd and the No.7 in 6th.^[14]

The next round of the season was the 6 Hours of Fuji in Toyota's home nation of Japan. It was announced that Nicolas Lapierre would be absent from the No.8 car owing to "personal circumstances".^[15] The No.8 again took pole in the hands of Davidson and Buemi, with the No.7 qualifying 4th.^[16] In the race, the No.8 led for most of the race and finished 1st with the No.7 25 seconds behind in 2nd to take the team's second 1-2 finish of the season.^[17]

Complete World Endurance Championship results

Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.

Year	Nat.	Entrant	Class	Nat.	Drivers	No.	Rounds								Points	WEM pos.
							1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
2014		Toyota Racing	LMP1-H		Alexander Wurz Stéphane Sarrazin Kazuki Nakajima	7	SIL 2	SPA 3	LMN DNF	COA 6	FUJ 2	SHA 2	BHR 1	SÃO 4	289	1st
					Anthony Davidson Sébastien Buemi Nicolas Lapierre	8	SIL 1	SPA 1	LMN 3	COA 3	FUJ 1	SHA 1	BHR 11	SÃO 2
2015		Toyota Racing	LMP1		Anthony Davidson Sébastien Buemi Kazuki Nakajima	1	SIL 3	SPA 4	LMS 8	NÜR 5	COA 4	FUJ 5	SHA 6	BHR 4	164	3rd
					Alexander Wurz Stéphane Sarrazin Mike Conway	2	SIL 4	SPA 6	LMS 6	NÜR 6	COA Ret	FUJ 6	SHA 5	BHR 3

See also

• Toyota TS030 Hybrid
• Audi R18 e-tron quattro
• Porsche 919 Hybrid
• Nissan GT-R LM Nismo

References