Toyota GR010 Hybrid

The Toyota GR010 Hybrid is a sports prototype racing car developed for the 2021 Le Mans Hypercar rules in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The car is the successor of the Toyota TS050 Hybrid, which competed in the WEC from 2016 to 2020, achieving two double WEC world titles and three straight victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2018 to 2020. The GR010 Hybrid was revealed online on 15 January 2021.

Development

The GR010's design is inspired by the Toyota GR Super Sport Concept presented at the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon, considered to be the GR010's road version counterpart. Its engine is a 3.5 L twin-turbocharged petrol V6 with a hybrid system, which uses lithium-ion batteries.

The car's first rollout took place at Paul Ricard in October 2020. A second test took place at Portimao in December 2020.

The road car programme developed in parallel with the racing programme was cancelled early in 2021.

Lexus North America actively considered entering a Lexus-badged GR010 in the IMSA championship, although the project was not pursued.

Competition history

2021

For the GR010 Hybrid's debut season, Toyota maintained their driver lineup unchanged from the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship, with Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and José María López in car #7 and Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, and Brendon Hartley in car #8. Nyck de Vries remained as test driver, with Ryō Hirakawa joining him in development duties halfway through the year.

The 2021 WEC season was a complete success for Toyota and the GR010 Hybrid, with the car winning all 6 races of its debut season, securing pole position and fastest lap at 5 of them and having both cars in the podium at every race except Monza, where the #8 car had reliability issues. With the win in the first leg of the Bahrain double-header finale Toyota secured the Hypercar World Endurance Championship. Furthermore, at the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans, Toyota would secure their fourth straight overall win in the event and the first for the #7 crew of Conway, Kobayashi and López, who would go on to repeat as World Endurance Drivers' Champions at the end of the year.

2022

After its inaugural season, Toyota would go on to repeat their success from 2021 in the 2022 WEC season with the GR010 Hybrid. They would maintain their lineup of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and José María López in their #7 car while for the #8 car they would bring in Ryō Hirakawa to join Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley.

Despite a crash in the 1000 Miles of Sebring and a retirement during the 6 Hours of Spa, both Toyota cars would podium in every race including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 6 Hours of Fuji, and 8 Hours of Bahrain all of which they finished both first and second. This led to them winning the 2022 Hypercar World Endurance Constructors Championship. In the driver's championship, the crew of the #8 car would become the 2022 Hypercar World Endurance Drivers Champions and the #7 car would place third in the standings.

2023

After winning the last two Hypercar World Endurance Championships, the GR010 Hybrid would go on to once again carry Toyota to even more success. Toyota kept the same drivers from the year prior with Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and José María López in the #7 car and Ryō Hirakawa, Sébastien Buemi, and Brendon Hartley in the #8 car.

Toyota started the season by finishing the 1000 Miles of Sebring in first and second place and they would continue this success throughout the season with only 3 finishes outside the top two. One of these finishes occurred during the 24 Hours of Le Mans when the #7 Toyota was hit by another car while slowing down for a collision which forced the Toyota to retire due to the damage. The team convincingly won the 2023 Hypercar World Endurance Constructors Championship with 217 points. The crew of the #8 car would once again win the Hypercar World Endurance Driver Championship and the crew of the #7 car would take second place.

Complete World Endurance Championship results

Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.

References