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How WEC rules will guarantee Toyota defeats

Toyota may have gone unchallenged in the World Endurance Championship superseason, but new rules that will come into play after this weekend's 2019/20 Silverstone opener will reduce its might in the new campaign

Toyota isn't going to win every round of the World Endurance Championship in 2019/20.

That's the Japanese manufacturer's own prediction in the run-up to the start of the new season at the Silverstone 4 Hours this weekend. A new system of success handicaps - a novel and more scientific take on the idea of success ballast - will ensure that.

The claim was made before the TS050 HYBRIDs were given another hike in minimum weight this week. The extra 14kg is going to make life for the Toyota drivers that much tougher this weekend, so this latest rules tweak under the Equivalence of Technology only reinforces the argument put forward by Toyota Motorsport GmbH technical director Pascal Vasselon.

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Author Gary Watkins

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.