Toyota denies Le Mans plans
| By Steven English and Gary Watkins |
Thursday, January 24th 2008, 13:43 GMT |
Toyota has moved to cool rumours that it's planning to return to the Le Mans 24 Hours with a petrol-electric hybrid prototype in the near future.
Reports in the Japanese press suggested the marque was gearing up for a return to the event in 2010, but it insists it is only investigating possibilities for utilising the hybrid technology it used to win the Tokachi 24 Hours last summer under the Lexus banner.
Toyota's Katsuhiko Koganei told Autosport: "We continue to develop hybrid cars to improve the technology, which will feed back into the marketplace.
"We are investigating taking part in races such as Le Mans, but we have not decided to enter. We don't have any plans for races right now."
Toyota F1 boss John Howett added: "Le Mans is considered unfinished business. There are some divisions within the company that are serious about developing hybrid racing cars."
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