Positive tests for Toyota at Test Day

Si Toyota Gazoo Racing did not achieve the best time of the Test Day of the 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 5, the TS050 Hybrid nevertheless achieved promising performances on the Sarthe circuit with the new 6l turbo V2.4 and the new battery hybrid system registered in class 8 MJ.

The Japanese LMP1s also proved reliable by completing 177 laps of the Le Mans circuit, for a total of 2412 km.

Anthony Davidson achieved the best performance in the Toyota Gazoo Racing clan by completing a lap in 3'23''197 at the wheel of the No. 5 he shares with Sébastien Buemi et Kazuki Nakajima. The Briton improved last year's benchmark in the Japanese clan by more than two seconds, even though track conditions were worse in 2015.

“We can see a clear improvement compared to last year’s car.”, assures the 2014 champion of WEC who finished 1”8 behind the testing benchmark set by Lucas di Grassi in the #18 Audi R8. “The car is better balanced and the power of the 8 MJs is a nice asset on this circuit where the straights are so important. We continued to work on balance because it is also essential to have stability in fast corners. »

Sister car No. 6 set a similar pace, Kamui Kobayashi ranking half a second behind #5.

“My first experience at Le Mans with the TS050 Hybrid went well”, reveals the Japanese. “We made good progress and completed a lot of laps. We had to collect data with our low downforce package. I didn't have any clear laps, but the main thing was to get good settings, not to set a time. We didn't do a stint on low fuel or with new tires. The best is yet to come. »

Discover the analysis of the Test Day of the 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2066 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version on all platforms, and on newsstands from Wednesday.