Toyota to compete in Le Mans 24 Hours with hybrid racer

October 16,2011

Having failed miserably in Formula One, Toyota is setting its sights on the Le Mans 24 Hours. It will compete with its most famous technology—a hybrid drivetrain. Toyota Motorsport, based in Germany, will be developing the new LMP1 chassis, while Toyota Japan will supply the hybrid gasoline powertrain.

Tadashi Yamashina, Toyota Motor Corporation Senior Managing Officer and Toyota Motorsport Chairman, said: “Toyota has entered Le Mans before, but by using our hybrid technology this time will be a completely new challenge. 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.”

Toyota last competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours as a manufacturer in the late 1990s racing the GT-One, a car which famously established a new race lap record in 1999. Mazda remains the only Japanese manufacturer to have won Le Mans.

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