Toyota to Race in the 2018-2019 FIA World Endurance Championship
Toyota will be back in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2018. Toyota Gazoo Racing confirmed today that it will compete in the 2018-2019 series, a competition that has the famous Le Mans 24-hour race as its high point.
The championship regulations for next season pave the way for the team to enter their TS050 Hybrid race car in the top LMP1 category and enable Toyota to continue to use motorsport as a cradle of development for its hybrid powertrain technology.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s activities play an important role in Toyota’s commitment to building ever-better cars. What is learned and experienced on the track and in the pit lane develops the skills of engineers and puts technical ideas and innovations to the test in extreme conditions.
As an example, since Toyota launched its WEC project, the fuel efficiency of its race car has been improved by 35 per cent – an achievement that contributes to making road cars more efficient, too. Toyota powertrain engineers have also been seconded to the team to learn new processes and ways of working in the high-pressure environment of international racing competition.
Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation, said: “Since 2012, we have taken up the challenge of the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, with race cars equipped with hybrid technologies. Of course, we have always approached this challenge with a desire to drive faster than any other car and to win. Yet our cars carried our desire for more than just that.
“Not only did we want to heighten environmental performance in terms of fuel efficiency and such, we also had a very strong desire to create hybrid cars that made drivers feel that driving is fun.
“The ever-better cars that Toyota seeks are honed and created via the extreme environment of motorsport. That is exactly why we will persistently engage in motorsport, without being swayed by the good and bad of economic times. “
Toyota Gazoo Racing will announce more details about their plans for the 2018-2019 season, including their driver line-up, early in the New Year.
