Toyota GR010 Hybrid: Toyota Gazoo Racing’s new Le Mans Hypercar for WEC

Built to take over from the highly successful TS050 Hybrid, the new Toyota GR010 Hybrid is far more than simply Toyota Gazoo Racing’s latest “weapon” for endurance racing.

Designed for the new “Le Mans Hypercar” (LMH) class, the GR010 Hybrid is, quite literally, the competition version of the brand’s forthcoming road-going hypercar, the GR Super Sport.

It also carries a “heavy legacy”. Toyota arrive as the reigning WEC (World Endurance Championship) world champions and already have three wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, leaving the new GR010 Hybrid with the job of defending those titles.

A joint effort

Developed over an 18-month period, the GR010 Hybrid is the result of combined work between the engineers at the team’s Germany-based race operation and the hybrid powertrain specialists from the electrification technology centre at Higashi-Fuji in Japan.

With four-wheel drive, the GR010 Hybrid “pairs” a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 producing 680 hp to drive the rear axle, with a 272 hp motor-generator-developed by AISIN AW and DENSO-mounted on the front axle.

Total combined output is capped at the regulation-limited 680 hp (500 kW), which is 32% less than its predecessor. This is achieved because the GR010 HYBRID’s electronics trim engine power according to how much hybrid boost is being delivered. Transmission duties are handled by a seven-speed sequential gearbox mounted transversely.

Larger and heavier

Compared with its predecessor, the TS050 Hybrid, the new Toyota GR010 Hybrid has gained weight. The reason for the increase? The regulations, and the cost-reduction targets built into them.

All in, the new GR010 Hybrid is 162 kg heavier than the car it replaces (weighing 1040 kg). It is also bigger: at 4900 mm long, 2000 mm wide and 1150 mm tall, it is longer (+250 mm), taller (+100 mm) and wider (+100 mm) than the TS050 Hybrid.

Another point of note is that, for the first time since the Japanese brand entered the WEC, Toyota Gazoo Racing will not use a rear motor-generator unit (MGU).

As a result, the permitted MGU sits on the front axle, as mentioned earlier. This has required not only the fitment of a starter motor in the GR010 HYBRID, but also the adoption of fully hydraulic rear brakes.

You don’t change a winning team

For its ninth season in the WEC, Toyota Gazoo Racing has stuck with the drivers who delivered victory at Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship title in the 2019/2020 season.

Accordingly, the two GR010 Hybrids will be shared by current world champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López (car number 7), while Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley will race car number 8. Nyck de Vries will continue as test and reserve driver.

In total, the season features six rounds, held across three different continents:

• 1000 Miles of Sebring, on 19 March;
• 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, on 1 May;
• 24 Hours of Le Mans between 12 and 13 June;
• 6 Hours of Monza, on 18 July;
• 6 Hours of Fuji Speedway, on 26 September;
• 6 Hours of Bahrain, on 20 November.