Toyota LMP1 engine failures in last WEC round were Spa-specific

Analysis of the failures, which robbed the #5 Toyota TS050 HYBRID of likely victory last month, has indicated that they were caused by the loads sustained by the 2.4-litre twin-turbo V6 in the compression at the bottom of the Eau Rouge corner.

The engines are not subject to the same forces on the Circuit de la Sarthe on which the 24 Hours takes place.

Toyota Motorsport GmbH technical director Pascal Vasselon said: "We have done several dyno long runs and several times we went to 10,000km on track with the engines, and suddenly we had two failures.

"We are nearly certain that it was related to the load cases at Eau Rouge, the torsion and bend."

Vasselon explained that it would have been "nearly impossible" to attempt a fix between the Spa event and Le Mans on June 18/19, but stressed that no remedy was required for the 24 Hours.

"We have not changed anything for Le Mans, because we are far from this load case [on the French track]," he continued.

"It is needed for next year and it will be fixed for Spa in 2017."

Both Toyotas ran without problems over the course of the Le Mans test day on Sunday.

The #5 TS050 shared by Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima was leading the six-hour race at Spa in the fourth hour when the V6 failed.

It subsequently returned to the track to undertake one lap under electric power from its hybrid system in order to register a classified finish.