Vasselon: “A very good working base”

Toyota Motorsports fait son retour en endurance en alignant un proto LMP1 essence hybride qui sera piloté par Alexander Wurz, Nicolas lapierre et Kazuki Nakajima on several tests of WEC, including of course the 24 hours of Le Mans. If the hybrid system is currently tested in traction and propulsion mode (more details here), the whole thing doesn't seem to suffer from any major problem. Pascal Vasselon, Toyota's technical director, is optimistic about the TS030's potential.

“The performance of our TS030 Hybrid is based above all on two factors: aerodynamics and the hybrid system. For hybrid engines, the regulations authorize us to recover energy when braking in order to reinforce acceleration when exiting a corner, and therefore to achieve better lap times. And at the same level of performance, a hybrid powertrain consumes less fuel. So it's a very relevant technology that we're looking forward to applying to endurance. Another key point of development: aerodynamic efficiency. To optimize it, the TMG team worked a lot by combining wind tunnel tests with our dynamic flow studies. Judging by the positive feedback from the first tests, we have a very good starting point on which we will work in the weeks to come. »