Daily Times

Toyota has revealed an updated version of its TS050 Hybrid LMP1 car, featuring significant front-end aerodynamic revisions for the car’s final FIA World Endurance Championship campaign.

A more distinct nose gives the car a different look to the previous version of the TS050 that claimed title honours in the 2018/19 WEC superseason, while the bodywork either side of the nose has been pushed back to reveal more of the splitter.

Toyota Motorsport GmbH technical director Pascal Vasselon stated that the fourth version of the TS050 was “not radically different to its predecessor” on the release of the images.

“The most obvious change is the bodywork,” he said. “We have updated the aerodynamics of the car and elsewhere there are minor modifications for reliability.

“This year’s updates are about optimising details and reliability.”

He claimed that the rate of development of Toyota’s non-hybrid, privateer rivals in the LMP1 division of the WEC meant that the team could “not stand still”.

“We have never under-estimated their capabilities so we needed to continuously improve our package wherever it was possible and efficient,” he explained.

The latest Toyota LMP1 car, which will run in livery largely similar to last season, has been unveiled ahead of the two-day Prologue pre-season test in Barcelona, where it will be joined by two P1 cars each from Rebellion Racing and the factory Ginetta Team LNT squad.

Rebellion will start the season at Silverstone in September with only one of its Gibson-engined R-13s, while Ginetta has yet to commit to fielding two of its AER-powered G60-LT-P1s while it is still finalising its programme.

A total of 30 cars feature on the provisional entry list for the season opener, with eight LMP2s, six GTE Pro cars and 11 GTE Am set to join the depleted LMP1 contingent.

The same number of cars are set to compete in the Prologue, but Aston Martin is only running one car in the GTE Pro class, offsetting the extra Rebellion entry.

Last weekend, Aston unveiled a new livery for its factory-run Vantage GTEs featuring ‘British Racing Green’ strakes on the rear of the car.