The big news today is Toyota’s driver lineup for 2012 and their assault on the World Endurance Championship. Headline driver is Alex Wurz, with Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima being the other two. Toyota Motorsport’s press info says:

Alex Wurz: “As soon as I heard about the possibility to join the team I was instantly excited and keen to be involved. I love endurance racing and I have been a fan of Le Mans since my childhood so I have great memories of Toyotas competing there, particularly the GT-One which was a really sexy, cool-looking car. As an ambitious Le Mans racer, this heritage combined with the immense technical capabilities at TMG makes a very attractive combination. So I am extremely happy to be involved, along with Nicolas and Kazuki. One of the most important things in endurance racing is the connection between the drivers. If the drivers are working together it is a very productive situation for the team and ultimately improves lap times and results. Nicolas has shown his speed while I really rate Kazuki as a person and a driver so I think we will be a strong team. I can’t wait to get started and I am fascinated by the new challenge of competing with a hybrid car. It is the future of racing so I am very excited that Toyota comes in with this technology. I know Toyota has a lot of expertise in this area and I hope this plays to our advantage.”

As a well-qualified single-seater driver, with GP2 races wins complimenting the 2006 A1 Grand Prix championship, Nicolas Lapierre moved into endurance racing in 2007.

He has quickly established himself as a leading light with wins in 1,000km races at Portimao and Silverstone before this year’s victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Nicolas Lapierre: “To be selected by a company like Toyota for such a new and interesting project is a proud moment for me. We are at the beginning of a big challenge and I am very excited. TMG has some very impressive capabilities and, together with the hybrid system, we have the potential to develop a really strong car. I am interested to experience the hybrid system for the first time; this adds a different aspect to our challenge and we have to consider some different strategic factors. It’s great to be involved at the beginning with this technology and I hope it will give us a performance advantage. I’m also pleased to be part of such a strong driver line-up. I raced against Kazuki in GP2; he is definitely a fast driver and also a good team player, which is very important in endurance racing. Alex is a two-time Le Mans winner so he is a great benchmark for us, but he is also able to build a strong team spirit. I believe the choice of drivers is very good and I am looking forward to working together as a team.”

Kazuki Nakajima is a successful graduate of the Toyota Young Drivers’ Programme, having enjoyed race-winning successes in Formula 3 and GP2 on his way to Formula 1, initially as test driver before progressing to a race seat.

He stood out as a mature and determined driver despite an extremely tough environment, so it is no surprise he has immediately returned to winning ways in Formula Nippon.

Kazuki Nakajima: “I am thrilled to have been chosen to become a member of Toyota’s World Endurance Championship team. To return to Le Mans, and to take part in this new championship, means a lot to Toyota so I am very honoured to be a part of it. Le Mans will be a new experience for me but it is one I am very much looking forward to. The challenge of Le Mans is famous throughout motorsport so I can’t wait to race there for the first time. Obviously it is a new experience but I am familiar with endurance racing thanks to my time in Japanese Super GT and this will help me to adjust. It’s great to join such a strong driver line-up, especially because I am already familiar with both of my new team-mates, having worked with Alex in Formula 1 and raced against Nicolas in GP2. I am looking forward to working closely with Alex and Nicolas; I want to learn about Le Mans from them and I hope I will be able to do a good job.”

Toyota are playing down the season, saying that it will be a learning year, undertaking selected rounds, not a full programme. But with 2011 Petrol Engined winners Rebellion racing being retained as partners to help develop the hybrid technology, if it gives the pertol cars the boost they need against the diesels, it’s going to be an interesting season. Stay posted….

This great video show a lap of the ‘Ring set using Toyota EV power. The full press info is just below, but the new record of 7mins 47 secs smashes the previous record. Full press release info just below the video.





COLOGNE (Germany) – Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) has set a new lap record for an electric vehicle (EV) at the legendary 20.8km Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany.
The TMG EV P001, with 100% electric powertrain and Jochen Krumbach at the wheel, set a new lap record of 7mins 47.794secs to beat the previous lap record, which stood at 9mins 1.338secs, by a very substantial margin.
Using two electric motors, the TMG electric powertrain has a top speed of 260km/h which combined with 800Nm of torque to achieve impressive speeds on the extremely challenging Nordschleife track, which includes significant elevation changes and lengthy flat-out sections.
TMG’s target prior to the 29 August record run was to become the first electric vehicle break the eight- minute barrier and this was achieved comfortably on a day when the notoriously changeable Nürburgring weather stayed fine, although track temperatures were relatively low.
Such performance shows TMG’s electric powertrain is ideal to power any future single-make electric motorsport series and TMG will begin commercial sales of this technology in 2012. TMG continues to advance its electric vehicle capability for motorsport applications with in-house development of the electric powertrain and ongoing investigations into alternative chassis solutions.
Pascal Vasselon, TMG’s Technical Director, said: “The goals for this project were twofold: obviously we wanted to set a new EV lap record and I am very pleased we could achieve that so comprehensively. On the other hand, we also wanted to learn more about the operation of our electric powertrain in extreme circumstances; in motorsport there is no more extreme circuit than the Nürburgring. On the record lap the TMG EV P001 performed better than in testing due to the improvement we already could make based on that experience. We have enhanced our electric powertrain development thanks to the information our engineers have gained and our future EV products will benefit from this project.”
Rob Leupen, TMG’s Director Business Operations, said: “This is a very impressive achievement which really shows the huge potential for electric powertrains to deliver fast, exciting action on the race track. There’s no doubt that electric motorsport can be every bit as thrilling as traditional racing and it was an amazing sensation to watch the TMG electric vehicle fly past on the Nordschleife, with only the sound of wind rushing past and tyres squealing. To achieve a new lap record at the first attempt, and by such a huge margin, is a great achievement and I am very proud to see TMG’s name in the record books. But this is not the end of the story for TMG and I hope we will see our electric powertrains in action on the track again soon.”
The new lap record was completed on road-legal tyres, using the complete Nordschleife track. It was verified by independent lap timing.
TMG extends its thanks to its partners in this achievement: Aguti created and implemented the livery concept while rational motion integrated the electric powertrain, traction battery and control strategies. EVO Electric motor technology delivered the power. The TMG EV P001 is based on a Radical chassis as modified by TMG for e-WOLF.

Gazoo Racing's Lexus LFA

In the Japanese Super GT500 series he’s no stranger to the LFA, being twice series winner in the Lexus SC430. This is the 4th time that Lexus have raced at the Nurburgring 24hours and data from previous events was used to fine tune the chassis and car dvelopment.

If you’re not going, you’ll be able to see the car in the UK right afterwards, as the car goes from Germany straight to the Goodwood Festival of Speed as part of Toyota’s considerable presence there.

The full Gazoo Racing line-up for the 39th Nürburgring 24 Hours: -

Takayaki Kinoshita (Japan)
Six-times Super Taikyu endurance Series champion

Juichi Wakisaka (Japan)
2006 and 2009 Super GT 500 class winner with André Lotterer in the Lexus SC 430

2002 Japan GTC champion
Jordan Mugen Formula 1 team test driver 1998
1996 Japanese Formula 3 champion

André Lotterer (Germany)
Winner of 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours with Audi
2006 and 2009 Super GT 500 class winner with André Lotterer in the Lexus SC 430
Formula Nippon competition 2003 to 2011 with nine race wins
Rookie of the year in German Formula 3 series 2000
1999 Formula BMW ADAC champion

Akira Iida (Japan)
2000 Japan GTC champion
Overall winner of the 1995 and 2007 Tokachi 24 Hours race
Le Mans 24 Hours competitor 1994, 1996 and 2000

Hiroaki Ishiura (Japan)
2007 Super GT 300 champion
Member of the Toyota Young Drivers Programme

Kazuya Oshima (Japan)
Formula Nippon competitor, 2009 to 2011
2007 Japan Formula 3 champion
2007 Super GT 300 champion
Member of the Toyota Young Drivers Programme

Rebellion Racing's Toyota engined Lola Le Mans car

Toyota may not have as illustrious a name at Le Mans as Porsche perhaps, but their involvement goes back a long way to 1975 when Sigma decided to exchange Mazda rotary power for a four-cylinder turbo derived from Corolla, Celica and Carina. It started the race but was the victim of a broken oil pump in the evening.

Ten years later, in 1985, Toyota returned to la Sarthe with greater ambitions. Designed by chassis specialist Dome, the prototypes gradually became more competitive,eventually getting sixth place in 1990 behind Jaguar, Porsche and Nissan.

After Mazda’s surprising victory in 1991, Toyota failed twice against Peugeot then worse, in 1994 Krosnoff, Irvine and Martini were leading just two hours from the finish when a gearbox problem handed victory to Porsche.

Four years later, the GT-One stunned observers with its beautiful lines and technology. After its impressive debut in 1998, all the conditions seemed right for it the following year. But the race turned into a nightmare. The none of the three cars entered were spared incidents, including the final puncture that occurred within one hour of the finish. Suzuki, Tsuchiya and Katayama finished second.

Its taken twelve years for Toyota to return, this time running the engine built for ALMS in a Lola chassis. Coupled up with what looks like a strong driver lineup including previous winner for Bentley, Guy Smith, they might just be able to spring a surprise. A strong 7th and 9th place positions at the Spa 1,000kms bodes well. We’ll try and find out more this week about the team’s preparations and how they fare in the race.

Good to hear that both drivers were OK after what could have been one of those nasty, random accidents that defies the best safety measures. Both cars manage to use the armco as a launch ramp, one clearing the fencing entirely. It just goes to show that even with the best safety measures in a well established racing circuit, the random risk of motorsport is always there

Dammit, I’m working again this weekend and it’s Donington BTCC time. Donington’s one of my favourite tracks and I was hoping to get there to see the two private Avensis BTCC crews out there. Last time out at Brands was a typical new race team experience, by the sound of it, with a lot of shakedown and testing being done in practice, with precious little time to work on race setup at all.

Hopefully, after this weekend we’ll have some positive news from the two teams, with press info from Toyota as follows:

A large contingent from Burnaston is expected trackside at Donington on Sunday for rounds four, five and six of the championship to cheer on the Toyota-driving Independents, Frank Wrathall Jnr and Tony Hughes, both of whom will be hoping to have ironed out some of the teething problems which hampered their BTCC debuts at Brands Hatch at the start of the month.

GPRM boss Gary Blackham says he could not have completed the job without the help of the factory: “It was not simply a case of turning up at Burnaston and collecting the bodyshells; everyone at the factory has been incredibly helpful and supportive of the project throughout the car’s sometimes painful delivery. We couldn’t have done it without that assistance.”

If the car continues to develop and goes half as well as it looks, let’s hope it starts the climb up the field this weekend.

Just spotted this in an idle Toyota YouTube browsing moment. Toyota MR2 drag car at Santa Pod in the UK pulling a wheelie off the start line. Just hope his front suspension holds up….

Treat yourself to 1800hp worth of Supra

I’m not a big drag racing fan, in fact you can count the number of drag race meetings I’ve been to on one hand, but a day at Santa Pod a few years back opened my eyes to some of the power outputs being squeezed out of Japanese engines. I’d seen plenty of tuner cars hitting 800bhp without problems, but adding another 1,000 bhp has got to make your eyeballs rattle.

So if you’re fancying a spot of Supra drag racing, take a look at this eBay listing. The last time I saw it, it was right on the money and I have to say, wouldn’t have minded a shot in it.

Carlos Sainz GT Four Toyota Sprint Series

Want to race your IQ? No problem....

The basic principle of the sprint is to complete a timed run rather than qualify and race side by side. With 16 classes and a newly introduced street category, which allows drivers with more standard cars to be more competitive, points are now awarded to find two overall champions (Street and Pro classes). This in addition to all the class winners, provides everyone with a chance to take home a trophy. Entrants can choose to modify their vehicle as much, or as little as they please, ensuring this is a motorsport event open to all, regardless of budget. So if you’ve always fancied your chances in that Previa or Landcruiser, here’s your chance…

On a personal note, all I can say is that it’s a good job I don’t work at a Lexus dealership any more. I can imagine the conversation on Monday morning.
“Where’s the keys to the IS-F Demonstrator?…… And what happened to the rear tyres….!?”
“It wasn’t me. Some big boys did it and ran away!”

Toyota Sprint Series 2011 – provisional calendar
27 March Rockingham Race Circuit (Corby)
22 May Woodbridge (Ipswich)
24 July Barkston Heath (Grantham)
13 August Llandow Racing Circuit (Bridgend, Wales)
4 September Croft (Darlington)
15 October Blyton Park (Gainsborough)

Following on from our post about Toyota returning to the BTCC, it’s time for a few more updates. The first privateer team to announce they’re going with the Avensis signed up this month, with Toyota GB confirming that they are also funding the development of the engine for the car. So what started out as a test and development mule donated by Toyota GB has gathered pace into a nod of approval to the private teams and some money being invested into the engine. Built by engineering consultancy X CTech R, whose technicians hope it will prove to be one of the lightest and most powerful engines on the grid of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship

X CTech R technical director Mark Faulkner said: “The Toyota 3ZR engine is a lightweight, compact package which we have optimised to ensure delivery of the required performance and durability. This is an exciting programme and will allow us to showcase our experience with turbocharged touring car engines. We are looking forward to working closely with Dynojet and Frank to get the very best out of the complete package.”

Dynojet BTCC Avensis

Given that the car was used as the development chassis for the new rule book, you can’t help but think that it will favour the Avensis.
Today, that looks like being a very smart move, as Sweden announced a U turn on it’s rules for 2012 and decided to go with the British rulebook after this season. So if the Avensis turns out to be a competitive proposition, there could quite easily turn out to be a market for a few more BTCC Avensis racers over in Scandinavia next year.
The final thing to report is that probably for the first time ever, people are walking past an Avensis and commenting, “Wow, cool car….”