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24 Hours of Le Mans 2012 : War of the Hybrids!
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Its diesel-electric vs petrol-electric vs 'conventional' diesel at Le Mans this year. Abhishek Nigam checks out the battle of the hybrids
Toyota TS030 Hybrid
Toyota isn’t actually new to Le Mans, however the last time the Japanese giant stayed on the race track for 24 hours was in the ’08 and ’09 season after which they pulled out of the sport. And now after thirteen years, Toyota is finally back in the reckoning. Heading Toyota’s challenge will be the TS030 Hybrid which is the successor to the iconic TS010 and TS020 cars which participated at Le Mans with podium success during the 1990s, with TS an acronym for Toyota Sport. Toyota’s comeback challenger is promising a lot of firsts as well. For starters, Toyota is the first manufacturer to confirm its participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship using a hybrid system, highlighting its pioneering approach to this technology which has seen more than 3.5 million Toyota hybrid vehicles sold worldwide.
The THS-R (Toyota Hybrid System – Racing) powertrain is designed to deliver maximum performance and features an all-new 3.4 litre normally-aspirated V8 petrol engine and hybrid system with capacitor storage developed by official team partner Nisshinbo. The team will use the TS030 Hybrid’s first test to evaluate the merits, within the current regulations, of a front motor system produced by Aisin AW and a rear motor system developed by official team partner DENSO. Those regulations limit hybrid systems to recovering a maximum of 500kJ between braking zones whilst restricting deployment to only two wheels. An all new carbon fibre chassis has been developed as well.
The driver line-up for the regular TS030 Hybrid which will participate in the FIA World Endurance Championship from the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps starting 5th May onwards is already confirmed as Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima with Andrea Caldarelli as the team’s junior driver. Anthony Davidson, Hiroaki Ishiura and Sebastien Buemi will be handling the driving duties in the second car.
So why Hybrids then?
Besides the power-boost trick, a hybrid will be more fuel efficient, something even racers need to think about. The less time a car spends in the pits, the less time competitors have to catch up. This is why Audi has been using diesels since 2006. The TS030’s batteries will allow it to run on electric power in low-speed situations, such as driving down the pit lane. Also like mentioned before, Hybrid race cars are also important in terms of public relations. While race cars have very little in common with showroom models, manufacturers still like to use racing to show off their technical abilities. An exercise like this also gives the carmakers some green credentials with customers.
Audi’s R18 hybrid is based on a race-winning chassis and since Audi’s main rival, Peugeot, won’t be competing, it is basically unchallenged. The only question is whether it will be one of the hybrids or one of the conventional diesels. Toyota will be keener on development thanks to a new team with a new car, so it is hard to predict how the Japanese company will do. What however remains to be seen is whether these Hybrids pack enough to bring a change in the regular course of motorsports. The answer shall be out pretty soon!
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Ooh
I saw the race Toyota would of won if it wasn't for the accident wait till 2013 I bet Toyota wins it.
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