Toyota GAZOO Racing ushered in a new era in endurance racing by introducing the all-new GR2021 HYBRID Le Mans hyper racing car that will compete in the 010 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
Toyota, which was World Champion in the last race and won three Le Manss, will fight to defend its title against new rivals with the racing version of the upcoming hyper road car.
The new GR010 HYBRID prototype racing car was developed for 18 months in collaboration with engineers at the team's headquarters in Cologne, Germany, and hybrid engine experts at Higashi-Fuji in Japan.
The GR010 HYBRID racing car has a 680 liter V3.5 twin-turbo 6 HP powering the rear wheels and a 272 HP electric motor that powers the front wheels. The sophisticated electronics of the GR680 HYBRID, whose total power is limited to 010 HP as per the rules, adjusts the power of the gasoline engine according to the hybrid power obtained.
The racing car, with an impressive design, is inspired by the GR Super Sport hypercar, which debuted at the 2020 Hours of Le Mans 24 and is in development. To highlight this new era for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, it uses the iconic GR logos showing the strong bond between the racing car and the road car.
Champion squad preserved
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, which will enter its 9th season at WEC, will compete with the same squad that brought Le Mans and World Championship successes in the 2019-2020 season. Recent World Champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López will use the # 7 GR010 HYBRID. Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley will compete in vehicle number 8. Nyck de Vries will continue his testing and reserve pilot duties. Pilots have already started intensive development programs of the GR010 HYBRID and have conducted a six-day test program to adapt to the new rules.
There are new rules in the champion
Within the scope of cost reduction targets at WEC, the new GR010 HYBRID will be 050 kg heavier and have 162 percent less power than the TS32 HYBRID it replaces. Le Mans tour zammemory is expected to be about 10 seconds slower. However, the dimensions of the vehicle were designed to be 250 mm longer, 100 mm wider and 100 mm higher.
The GR010 HYBRID racing car with the most advanced aerodynamics has been developed with Computational Fluid Dynamics software and wind tunnel tests, and according to the new technical rules, only one homologous body package can be used with an adjustable aerodynamic element. This means that the GR010 HYBRID competes with the same body pack except for the adjustable rear wing, which can change the aerodynamic characteristics on all tracks.
The balance performance rule will be applied for the first time in the WEC top category and at Le Mans. According to these rules, it is aimed that the performance, energy use and weight of each race car from race to race will be changed and Le Mans hypercars will compete with equal performance.
The 2021 season will start with the Sebring 19 Mile race on March 1000, followed by the Spa-Francorchamps 1 Hours race on May 6. The top race of the season, Le Mans 24 Hours, will be run on June 12-13. Monza race, which will host the first World Endurance Championship race since 1992, will be held on 18 July. It will be followed by the Fuji Speedway on September 26 and the Bahrain races on November 20.
| GR010 HYBRID Technical Specifications | |
| Body | Carbon fiber composite |
| Gearbox | 7 forward row |
| Length | 4900 mm |
| Width | 2000 mm |
| Height | 1150 mm |
| Weight | 1040 kg |
| Fuel capacity | 90 liter |
| Motor | V6 direct injection twin turbo |
| Valves | 4 per cylinder |
| Engine capacity | 3.5 Liter |
| Fuel | Petrol |
| Motor power | 500 kW / 680 HP |
| Hybrid power | 200 kW / 272 HP |
| Battery | TOYOTA lithium ion battery |
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