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The WEC's LMP1 promise that couldn't be kept

The efforts to give Toyota some competition in the World Endurance Championship's superseason have led to expectations of the small-budget privateer outfits snapping at the heels of the manufacturer powerhouse. But it's not quite going to play out like that

Can Toyota be beaten by the new wave of privateers entering the World Endurance Championship for the 2018/19 superseason? The answer has to be no, and that's not just because it's the only manufacturer still standing in LMP1.

That status, of course, means it has more resources, a higher level of organisation and a better driver line-up than any of the independents, not to mention a proven three-year-old design in the TS050 HYBRID pitched against an array of new cars from Ginetta, Rebellion and BR Engineering.

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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.