Toyota releases teaser images of TS040 HYBRID WEC car
Toyota has released teaser shots of its new TS040 HYBRID from the 2014 World Endurance Championship challenger's first test last week
The long-range photographs of the successor to the TS030 of 2012-2013 show little detail of the new car, which ran for three days at Paul Ricard in the hands of Alex Wurz and Anthony Davidson.
Toyota has confirmed that the front-axle motor generator unit of the four-wheel-drive LMP1 coupe is manufactured by Aisin, unlike the rear-axle unit, which is again a Denso component.
High-resolution pictures of the Toyota
The Toyota Motorsport GmbH squad tested with an Aisin unit at the beginning of 2012 on the original iteration of the TS030 HYBRID when it was evaluating front and rear hybrid systems at a time when energy retrieval was only allowed on one axle.
Chassis project leader John Litjens explained that TMG had been working on the TS040 since the end of its first season back in top-fligth sportscar racing in 2012.
"We started the first design studies back in November 2012 and gradually increased our efforts on this car, with our energies becoming fully focused on the TS040 HYBRID soon after Le Mans last year," he said.
"The TS040 HYBRID is a major evolution compared to its predecessor, which was already very efficient aerodynamically and mechanically; we have high hopes for it and we're looking forward to the start of the season."
Full details of the TS040, which is powered by a normally-aspirated V8 powerplant based on that used in its predecessors, will be released on March 27.
Toyota is officially launching the car on the eve of the WEC test at Paul Ricard on March 28-29.
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