Gallery: Toyota's Headed to Le Mans — With Hybrids
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Toyota is returning to Le Mans with a pair of slick hybrids that update the iconic endurance racers it campaigned in the 1990s and prove, once again, that hybrids aren’t always boring. The Japanese automaker plans to enter two TS030 Hybrid racers in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, making it the first manufacturer to enter a hybrid in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Though the team makes its race debut at the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on May 5, [Toyota](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/tag/toyota/) clearly wants a strong showing at Le Mans. "Of course we would love to win Le Mans; that is the dream for all competitors in this race," team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita said in a statement. "But we are realistic and we know we need to develop and to learn in order to compete with some very strong competition. Our target this year is to show the performance level of our car and particularly the THS-R powertrain."
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Endurance racing has become *the* showcase for alternative fuels and technologies, with companies like Audi and Peugeot dominating Le Mans with diesel racers in recent years and the American Le Mans Series drawing everything from [ethanol-powered Corvettes](http://tinyurl.com/6ypzth7) to [isobutanol-powered Lola-Mazdas](http://tinyurl.com/ydolwzq) and even a [hybrid Porsche](http://tinyurl.com/6bkvf8c). Peugeot was expected to bring the [diesel-hybrid Peugeot Hybrid4](http://tinyurl.com/4k4bwtg) to Le Mans this year but recently announced its withdrawal from racing, leaving Toyota as the first to field a hybrid. "Toyota’s hybrid technology has already won a 24-hour race -- the Tokachi 24 Hours in 2007 -- so now we are bringing the latest THS-R development to global motorsport," Hisatake Murata, hybrid project leader, said. "We know this is a technically demanding exercise but we are well prepared for the challenge."
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The TS030 Hybrid is the successor to the TS010 and TS020 cars that saw success at Le Mans in the 1990s. At their heart is Toyota’s THS-R, or Toyota Hybrid System -- Racing, drivetrain. It combines a 3.4-liter V8 with an electric motor driving the front or rear (or perhaps all four) wheels. The [kinetic energy recovery system](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/tag/kinetic-energy-recovery-system-kers/) harvests energy during braking and stores it in a capacitor, then uses it to provide additional power out of a corner. "This technology will be used to recover up to 500 kilojoules between braking events, energy which can be released via either front or rear motors to deliver a performance advantage," Murata said. The cars have endured several hundred kilometers of testing at Paul Ricard circuit in France, and Toyota says they've shown solid performance and reliability. "It was cool to drive the TS030 Hybrid for the first time," said driver Alex Wurz. "When we put on the slick tires I could feel the car generates a very good amount of grip so I think we have a good base and I think we can turn this into a really fast car. I am definitely very happy."
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All the tech is packaged in a carbon-composite LMP1 chassis developed and built by TMG. "The two main performance drivers of our TS030 Hybrid car are the aerodynamics and the hybrid system," said team technical director Pascal Vasselon. In addition to providing extra oomph coming out of a corner, hybrid technology also saves fuel — which means more time on the track. [Porsche's hybrid 911 racer](http://tinyurl.com/6bkvf8c), for example, needed just three pit stops during the six-hour ModSpace American Le Mans Monterey race last year, compared to five for everyone else. "For any given performance level, a hybrid powertrain will achieve this with less fuel so it is an extremely relevant technology and one we are excited to be bringing to endurance racing," Vasselon said.
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Toyota has inked deals with Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima to drive one of the two hybrid racers. It’s still lining up drivers for the other car. “My first impression from the roll-out was positive; the chassis is really advanced and the hybrid system works very well,” Lapierre said. “It is totally different from anything I have known before. Our roll-out was promising and we saw the car’s potential on several levels; we still have plenty of work to do but I think that we will have a strong package.” http://www.youtube.com/embed/ViGR1Hw65e4
