Endurance test for Toyota in Spain
After a month's break due to the accident of Nicolas Lapierre at le Castellet, the test program of the Toyota TS030 HYBRID resumed this week in Spain at Motorland Aragon. The shake-down of the new chassis had been done at Magny-Cours on Friday 4th May after a stop at Spa-Francorchamps, the scene of the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, for for a photo shoot with its main rival, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro.
A box of electronics that let in water put an early end to the career of the first hybrid prototype. The Japanese automaker thus had only a single chassis and had to postpone the racing debut of the TS030 until the Le Mans 24 Hours, having originally planned to race in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The test program was also upset and Toyota has had to work twice as hard to prepare for Le Mans.
The five drivers took turns for a thirty-hour endurance test. Anthony Davidson took this opportunity to get familiar with his new ride that he had previously only driven on a simulator. Alexander Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima, drivers of the #7 car, were joined by the British driver and Sébastien Buemi in the #8 car.
The car received a new aerodynamic package and the latest developments of the hybrid system for the test session, which has not been plain sailing, as explained by Pascal Vasselon, CTO of Toyota Motorsport: “MotorLand is representative of Le Mans circuit in terms of track layout, asphalt characteristics and weather conditions. Therefore, we have been able to evaluate several options on our new bodywork and develop it with the Le Mans 24 Hours in mind. Adding to that, we continue our work on the assessment of Michelin’s tyre range to ensure we can cover all kinds of temperature and track conditions. The endurance test has not been as smooth as we expected. We had a couple of issues but we fixed them to achieve a reasonable mileage. Step by step, we are close to having a car capable to do a 24-hour race."
Toyota are still seeking a replacement for Hiroaki Ishiura at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, who withdrew last week (see article). So far, the return of Toyota to endurance racing has been decidedly bumpy.
Dave Davies (quote from Toyota press release)