Toyota may have left Formula 1 at the end of the 2009 season with its tail tucked firmly between its legs but the Japanese manufacturer looks set to return to a much more fertile hunting ground; that of the LMP1 class at Le Mans. Toyota enjoyed relative success in this class in the late nineties with the GT-One, but unlike that car - which was powered by a 3.6-litre twin-turbo petrol-powered V8 - the as yet unnamed 2012 racer will be fitted with a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain.
"Toyota has entered Le Mans before, but by using our hybrid technology this time will be a completely new challenge," Tadashi Yamashina, Toyota Motorsport chairman commented. "We want to write a new chapter in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours, as in the FIA World Endurance Championship, through our use of hybrid technology."
The new team will be based at Toyota Motorsports Cologne headquarters where the chassis will be built with the hybrid engine produced in Japan.
Paul Healy - 14 Oct 2011