Toyota says it has no plans to run three cars in Le Mans 24 Hours

Pascal Vasselon, technical director at Toyota Motorsport GmbH, has revealed that running a third 2015-spec TS040 HYBRID in the World Endurance Championship blue-riband is not in the plan right now, but stressed that the final call had yet to be made.

He explained that the decision would be based on financial considerations and a desire to focus the team's budget on car development.

"At the moment, unfortunately it looks unlikely: it is not completely decided, but it is very unlikely," he said.

"We are not planning a third car because we don't have the budget and the first priority is to develop a car at a good level of performance.

"No one is interested in having three slow cars - it is not an option for us to divert some budget from the development just to run a third car."

Porsche has yet to make a final decision on a third entry in 2015, the season it has earmarked for its big push for a 17th Le Mans victory.

Porsche LMP1 team principal Andreas Seidl said: "The statistics say you need to do it, but you also can't overburden the team.

"It is important not to compromise the chances of the existing two cars by running a third."

Audi is certain to run three cars at Le Mans, the minimum it has run in all but two of the years (2001 and 2006) when it has been represented by the factory Joest team at the 24 Hours.

LMP1 newcomer Nissan has already stated its intention to run a third Nissan GT-R NISMO with its US-based factory team.