Toyota will run its pre-Le Mans 24 test at Sebring this week
Toyota will complete its pre-Le Mans 24 Hours test programme at Sebring this week in the wake of the World Endurance Championship season-opener at the venue last Friday.
The Japanese manufacturer, who claimed a 1-2 victory in the Sebring 1000 Miles, will run for three days from Monday as it undertakes a third endurance simulation with the updated 2023 version of the GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar.
The test is taking place at Sebring because Toyota had to cancel a long-distance run scheduled for the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal.
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It was booked for early next month before the Portuguese venue was confirmed as the second round of this year’s WEC on 16 April.
It was therefore was not possible to go to Portugal because series rules forbid testing at a track on the calendar 30 days before the race.
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director Pascal Vasselon said: “We have been testing very little, and we needed a third test and the problem we have had was that it was planned where Portimao has been slotted into the calendar.
“The only solution was to do it after this race at Sebring, which for the team it is very tough.”
#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Toyota’s test and development car, rather than one of the the GR010s used in the race at Sebring, will undertake the test, which will not include any night running.
All six race drivers will take part in the test along with Kazuki Nakajima, who was announced as the Toyota’s reserve driver for this year alongside his role as vice-chairman of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe organisation in Cologne.
Toyota is not scheduled to test again during this year’s WEC apart from its normal pre-Le Mans shakedown at Spa and then the official Le Mans Test Day the week ahead of the 24 Hours in June.
Vasselon confirmed that the Toyota will not use all the days allowed to it under the latest testing rules due to budgetary considerations.
The latest version of the GR010 ran for the first time before Christmas and then undertook two endurance runs in Europe ahead of Sebring.
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