A7 Sportback

Make
Audi
Segment
Sedan

Toyota Racing has released the first photos of their new 2012 Le Mans Challenger racers. The two TS030 Hybrid racecars seek to build on Toyota's history in FIA World Endurance Championship racing and succeed the TS010 and TS020 racecars. The TS030 Hybrid racers (TS stands for ToyotaSport, in case you didn't know) both run on the Toyota Hybrid System-Racing powertrain.

Referred to by the Japanese company as THS-R, the system comprises of a brand-new 3.4-liter naturally-aspirated V8 gasoline engine paired with a hybrid system with capacitor storage developed by their partners Nisshinbo. Racing regulations require the cars to limit their hybrid systems to powering only two wheels and should be able to recover a maximum of 500kJ between the braking zones. Speaking on the idea of their new hybrid system, Toyota team technical director Pascal Vasselon said "The two main performance drivers of our TS030 HYBRID car are the aerodynamics and the hybrid system."

Vasselon continued: "The regulations for hybrid powertrains allow us to recover energy under braking and release this to improve acceleration out of a corner, delivering lap-time benefit. For any given performance level, a hybrid powertrain will achieve this with less fuel so it is an extremely relevant technology and we are excited to be bringing [it] to endurance racing." With a brand-new carbon fiber LMP1 chassis built by TMG, what's not to love about the new Toyota TS030 Hybrid racer?