Toyota Gazoo Racing ready for Hypercar debut this weekend
A new era of Toyota Gazoo Racing will begin this weekend as they set out to debut the GR010 Hybrid Hypercar in its first-ever race at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps this weekend (29 April - 1 May). That's right, the opening round of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is just around the corner, folks!
Their time with the super-dominant LMP1 concluded with handing over its legacy to this new-generation racing prototype, the GR010. A whole grid filled with hypercars from other manufacturers like Audi, Alpine, Ferrari, Porsche, Peugeot, and more, will make this battle for supremacy even more exciting in the coming seasons of the FIA WEC.
Toyota Gazoo Racing is keeping the same squad of drivers to defend its world titles and also set out for its fourth consecutive wins at the Le Mans 24 Hours race which include Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez, for car #7, and Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, and Brendon Hartley for car #8.
Today and tomorrow will mark the final preparation where the entire TGR squad will complete a two-day official prologue test in Spa. This will hopefully iron out any issues that might surface in the GR010, particularly from its 270hp front electric motor, four-wheel-drive system, and a fire-breathing 3.5-litre V6 engine with 680hp on tap. That's a whole lot of power, baby.
According to Hisatake Murata, Team President, "This is the start of an exciting new Hypercar era for endurance racing, where many leading competitors will fight against each other at Le Mans. The fans are all looking forward to this, and we share their enthusiasm. I am proud that Toyota Gazoo Racing will be on the grid at the start of this era. Our TS050 Hybrid marked the end of the first phase of our WEC project; we battled hard to improve our racing hybrid technology and this is now contributing to make ever-better cars for Toyota customers."
"Now we start a second phase and we must again fight as one team to push the limits of our racing hybrid, to deliver more exciting sports cars in the future to our Gazoo racing customers. Through the GR010 Hybrid, we will enhance our people, technology and processes. This season will not be easy because we face determined competitors who will push us hard but I know the team will never give up," added Murata.