Shortly before the team presentation for the 2023 WEC season, Toyota team boss Rob Leupen reiterated that the construction of a possible successor to the current GR010 Hybrid hypercar was not on the agenda.
“We weren’t close to building a new hypercar. We adapted the current car, but didn’t build a new chassis,” he replies when asked by “Motorsport-Total.com” in an online media round. In the summer, around Le Mans, there were rumors that Toyota could build a second hypercar for the current homologation cycle.
The reason for this: rule changes meant that the design of the GR010 Hybrid no longer perfectly matched the current regulations. The racing car was developed from 2018 and was about to be tested in 2020 when the parameters were changed. Among other things, the minimum weight has been reduced in line with the LMH-LMDh convergence.
Toyota GR010 Hybrid: Worked on this over the winter
For the 2022 season, Toyota adjusted the tire dimensions, among other things. In addition, the Japanese drove at the 6 Hours of Monza for the first time with an open differential. This component is mandatory from 2023. Peugeot, which has also competed in the Endurance World Championship since Monza, has already contested a large part of the test drives with an open differential.
For performance-relevant further developments, a hypercar manufacturer may use five Evo-Jokers in the course of the homologation cycle, which runs until 2027. On the other hand, further developments in terms of reliability are unlimited. But what did Toyota work on over the winter if you continue to rely on the GR010 Hybrid?
Leupen: “Our main focus was on the weight, the ease of maintenance and the driveability of the car. We also wanted to give our drivers as many kilometers in the car as possible and in that respect we achieved a good result.”
BoP category: Leupen expects an interesting start
The start in Sebring will show whether the efforts bear fruit. Leupen does not underestimate any opponent: “Cadillac was very impressive in Daytona, they drove 24 hours there. We fought great battles with Glickenhaus last year and I am sure that Peugeot will be there too. We will be with Porsche and Vanwall [erst noch] see.”
However, it is not to be expected that one manufacturer will dominate the competition. The hypercar category is a BoP class, all manufacturers are brought to a similar level of performance. That should also be a reason why Toyota finally decided against an expensive new development and for an update of the current LMH.
For this reason alone, Leupen is of the opinion: “Due to the balance of performance and the fact that there are always surprises in long-distance races, we can expect a very interesting first race in Sebring.” Toyota has to compete against Porsche, Ferrari, Peugeot, Cadillac, Glickenhaus and Vanwall in the 2023 WEC.