Engineering:Toyota GR010 Hybrid

Short description: Sports racing car

Toyota GR010 Hybrid

The No. 7 GR010 Hybrid at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans
Category	Hypercar
Constructor	Toyota
Designer(s)	Pascal Vasselon (Technical Director) John Litjens (Project Leader, Chassis) Hisatake Murata (Technical Director, Power Unit)
Predecessor	Toyota TS050 Hybrid
Technical specifications
Chassis	Carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb monocoque
Suspension (front)	Independent, double wishbone, pushrod-system
Suspension (rear)	Independent, double wishbone, pushrod-system
Length	4,900 mm (193 in; 16 ft)
Width	2,000 mm (79 in; 7 ft)
Height	1,150 mm (45 in; 4 ft)
Engine	Toyota H8909 3.5 L (214 cu in) 90-degree V6 Twin-turbo mid, longitudinally mounted with 4WD system
Electric motor	Toyota Hybrid System – Racing (THS-R), Li-ion Batteries
Transmission	Xtrac transverse 7-speed sequential semi-automatic
Power	500 kW (671 hp) (ICE) 200 kW (268 hp) (electric motors)
Weight	1,040 kg (2,293 lb)
Fuel	Total Excellium
Lubricants	Mobil 1
Brakes	Brembo carbon ventilated front and rear discs + Brembo pads + Akebono calipers
Tyres	Michelin radial slicks with Rays one-piece forged alloys, 29/71-18 front and 34/71-18 rear
Competition history
Notable entrants	Toyota Gazoo Racing
Notable drivers	Kazuki Nakajima Mike Conway Sébastien Buemi Kamui Kobayashi José María López Brendon Hartley Ryō Hirakawa Sebastian Ogier Lilou Wadoux Charles Milesi Nyck de Vries Ben Barnicoat Jack Hawksworth Josh Pierson
Debut	2021 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
First win	2021 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
Last win	2023 8 Hours of Bahrain
Last event	2023 8 Hours of Bahrain
Races Wins Podiums Poles F.Laps 19 16 32 12 12
Constructors' Championships	3 (2021 FIA WEC, 2022 FIA WEC, 2023 FIA WEC)
Drivers' Championships	3 (2021 FIA WEC, 2022 FIA WEC, 2023 FIA WEC)

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

Rear view

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 it's 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.

Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Points	Pos
2021	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Hypercar			SPA	POR	MON	LMN	BHR	BHR		206	1st
			Mike Conway	7	3	2	1	1	1	2
			Kamui Kobayashi		3	2	1	1	1	2
			José María López		3	2	1	1	1	2
			Brendon Hartley	8	1	1	33	2	2	1
			Sébastien Buemi		1	1	33	2	2	1
			Kazuki Nakajima		1	1	33	2	2	1
2022	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Hypercar			SEB	SPA	LMN	MON	FUJ	BHR		186	1st
			Mike Conway	7	Ret	1	2	3	2	1
			Kamui Kobayashi		Ret	1	2	3	2	1
			José María López		Ret	1	2	3	2	1
			Brendon Hartley	8	2	Ret	1	2	1	2
			Sébastien Buemi		2	Ret	1	2	1	2
			Ryō Hirakawa		2	Ret	1	2	1	2
2023	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Hypercar			SEB	POR	SPA	LMN	MON	FUJ	BHR	217	1st
			Mike Conway	7	1	9	1	Ret	1	1	2
			Kamui Kobayashi		1	9	1	Ret	1	1	2
			José María López		1	9	1	Ret	1	1	2
			Brendon Hartley	8	2	1	2	2	6	2	1
			Sébastien Buemi		2	1	2	2	6	2	1
			Ryō Hirakawa		2	1	2	2	6	2	1
2024	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Hypercar			SEB	POR	SPA	LMN	MON	FUJ	BHR
			Mike Conway	7
			Kamui Kobayashi
			Nyck de Vries
			Brendon Hartley	8
			Sébastien Buemi
			Ryō Hirakawa