Toyota’s attempt to beat Audi in the World Endurance Championship got off to a rocky start in 2012, but ended up rock solid. New-car teething problems and an accident during testing kept Toyota from the first two races last year, so the brand’s debut came at Le Mans. Tough crowd. Accidents, including Anthony Davidson’s terrifying crash at the end of the Mulsanne Straight ended the battle with Audi in France. But Toyota showed strength at the end of the season, taking the pole and winning three of the last four races: Brazil, China and at home in Japan. At least that’s the corporate home as the competition program is run out of Toyota’s racing base in Cologne, Germany.
That is where the automaker unveiled its updated 2013 WEC challenger. The TS030′s hybrid system has been “fine-tuned.” Unlike Audi with its diesel engine/flywheel energy-recovery system combo, Toyota matches a 530-hp, 3.4-liter naturally-aspirated gasoline V-8 with a super capacitor that can add an extra 300 horsepower.
One last-minute decision in 2012 was to flow the added power to the rear wheels, rather than the fronts as Audi does. As a result, last year’s monocoque structure could accept either system. Pascal Vasselon, Technical Director for the team explained that, “… the 2012 car, being a laboratory car, was able to accept front and rear hybrid systems, so we have redesigned the monocoque to optimize it without the front motor. Last year’s performance was very satisfying and we felt we ticked most boxes so there has been no concept change, just refinement and optimization of the 2012 car.”
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The aerodynamics have also been improved and to underline Toyota’s plans for the future, Hisatake Murata, Hybrid Project Leader, mentioned they were including some pre-testing of 2014 technologies. Which bodes well for next year’s new rules and Porsche’s return to WEC.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/YE2g3lWC-yg/
Jim Hurtubise Gus Hutchison Jacky Ickx Yuji Ide Jesús Iglesias
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