Toyota Motorsport
The Toyota Motorsport GmbH ( TMG ) is an in Cologne -based division of Japanese automaker Toyota , which on Motorsport is specialized and until 1993 under the name Toyota Team Europe changed its name (APN). From 1972 the 300-strong department was responsible for the development and production of the works vehicles for the World Rally Championship . In 1999 Toyota stopped its activities in rallying after four drivers' and three brand world championship titles and switched to Formula 1 , in which the team participated between 2002 and 2009 with racing cars and engines of its own design. The team is currently active as the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Team with the Toyota TS050 Hybrid in the FIA World Endurance Championship and since 2017 with three cars in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).
history
Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG), which has been based in Cologne since 1979, is a 100% subsidiary of the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. Back then known as Toyota Team Europe (TTE), the company was responsible for the development and production of the factory vehicles for the World Rally Championship. In 1993 Toyota Team Europe became Toyota Motorsport GmbH.
Currently, around 200 people are employed on a 30,000 m² company site and have been offering the motorsport and automotive industries development and test services in the high-performance area since November 2009.
In the 1970s and 1990s, Toyota won three manufacturers 'and four drivers' world championships in the World Rally Championship (WRC). In total, Toyota won 43 WRC rallies and finished in the top three 137 times with drivers such as Carlos Sainz , Didier Auriol and Juha Kankkunen . In 1999, the company withdrew from the rally to prepare for Formula 1.
From 1994 TMG also operated a factory tuning department for road vehicles, which not only offered sporty accessories for standard vehicles, but also sporty complete vehicles.
1997 TMG was the world's first ISO 9001 - certified motor sports company.
In 1998 and 1999 TMG competed in the 24-hour race of Le Mans with the specially developed Toyota GT-One . Although the Toyota GT1 cars were very fast, luck was not on them. In 1999 Toyota secured pole position with its first vehicle, but victory was thwarted by a flat tire. The third GT-One took second place in the same race.
From 2002 to 2009 TMG drove as the Panasonic Toyota Racing Team in Formula 1. As one of only two teams, it developed and built the entire vehicle in Cologne. Toyota took part in a total of 139 Grands Prix, finished in the top three 13 times (the first time in 2005), started from pole position three times with Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher and scored a total of 278.5 points in their entire Formula 1 time.
On November 4, 2009, Toyota announced its withdrawal from Formula 1.
The company in Cologne still exists, but with a new business model. Customers from the motorsport and automotive industries as well as from other branches of industry can take advantage of engineering services and the test and production facilities.
Rally history
The first contact, and thus the cornerstone of TTE, was laid in London in 1972 when Toyota representatives approached racing driver Ove Andersson , who won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1971, to drive the Toyota Celica in the British RAC rally in the autumn of the same year . Andersson accepted and was able to prove himself in the first race against a number of top Japanese teams who mainly drove the Datsun 240Z . He finished ninth.
Ove Andersson founded "Andersson Motorsport" in Uppsala , Sweden in 1973 due to the fact that the racing cars had to be transported from Japan to the European races and the vehicle was damaged in the process. Andersson Motorsport later became the first European Toyota team. Andersson Motorsport was relocated to Brussels , Belgium a short time later . From here, with the support of the Japanese company, the team successfully competed in rallies with Toyota Corollas and Celicas.
Toyota started as Toyota Team Europe for the first time in February 1975. Only 6 months later - in August 1975 - Hannu Mikkola won the first rally for TTE at the 1000 Lakes Rally in a Corolla 1600 .
In 1979 Toyota Team Europe and 11 of 20 employees moved from Brussels to Toyota-Allee in Cologne. In the same year they used the Celica Turbo for the first time and won the next two Safari rallies.
In September 1987 the team moved again, this time to larger business premises, but they stayed in Toyota-Allee, where they are still based today. At that time, Toyota unveiled the Celica GT4, their first all-wheel drive car driven by Juha Kankkunen and Kenneth Eriksson . Carlos Sainz won the FIA World Rally Championship driver's title with the ST 165 in 1990. The newer GT4, ST 185, made its debut in 1992 at the Monte Carlo Rally and helped Sainz win the drivers' title again in the same year. The ST 185 won the WRC driver and manufacturer titles in the following years: 1993 with Juha Kankkunen and 1994 with Didier Auriol .
In 1993 Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) bought TTE and changed its name to Toyota Motorsport GmbH. The team continued to take part in rallies under the name TTE. At the time, TMG, as a 100% subsidiary of TMC, employed around 300 people from 17 countries.
1995 TTE was excluded for 12 months from the WRC, due to an illegal air restrictor on the ST205, comprised of both a bypass mechanism and a spring force component to him from the scrutineers to hide.
Because of the exclusion, TTE itself was not allowed to participate as a team and therefore supported various other teams in 1996 and 1997, such as the Italian HF Grifone Team, Toyota Team Sweden, Marlboro Toyota Team Belgium and Teint Sport, who participated in selected WRCs with the Celica ST205 Events before the Corolla WRC was unveiled at the 1997 Finland Rally.
In 1998 TTE was back at the WRC and entered the Corolla WRC with two crews Carlos Sainz / Luis Moya and Didier Auriol / Denis Giraudet . They finished second in the drivers 'and manufacturers' standings. In 1999 they won the manufacturers' title in the WRC for the third time.
TMG (TOYOTA MOTORSPORT GmbH) has been active in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with three cars under the team name TOYOTA GAZOO Racing since 2017 . The drivers (all three are from Finland) are: Jari-Matti Latvala , Juho Hänninen and Esapekka Lappi .
Rally victory table
| year | rally | Driver / passenger | vehicle | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Press-on-Regardless | W. Boyce / D. Woods | Corolla (TE20) | 1. |
| 1975 | 1000 Lakes Rally | H. Mikkola / A. Aho | Corolla Levin (TE27) | 1. |
| 1979 | National Championship (France) | J.-L. Therier / M. Vial | Celica (RA20) | 1. |
| 1980 | German national championship | A. Warmbold / W. Inhester | Celica (RA40) | 1. |
| National Championship (France) | J.-L. Therier / M. Vial | Celica (RA40) | 1. | |
| 1982 | Motogard Rally | B. Waldegard / H. Thorzelius | Celica (RA63) | 1. |
| 1983 | Ivory Coast Rally | B. Waldegard / H. Thorzelius | Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64) | 1. |
| 1984 | Safari rally | B. Waldegard / H. Thorzelius | Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64) | 1. |
| 1985 | Safari rally | J. Kankkunen / F. Gallagher | Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64) | 1. |
| Ivory Coast Rally | J. Kankkunen / F. Gallagher | Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64) | 1. | |
| 1986 | Safari rally | B. Waldegard / F. Gallagher | Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64) | 1. |
| Ivory Coast Rally | B. Waldegard / F. Gallagher | Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64) | 1. | |
| Middle East Rally Championship | M. Bin Sulayem / R. Morgan | Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64) | 1. | |
| 1987 | Rally Hong Kong - Beijing | B. Waldegard / F. Gallagher | Supra 3.0i (MA70) | 1. |
| Middle East Rally Championship | M. Bin Sulayem / R. Morgan | Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64) | 1. | |
| 1988 | Safari rally | K. Eriksson / P. Diekmann J. Kankkunen / J. Piironen B. Waldegard / F. Gallagher |
Celica Supra Turbo (MA70) | Team price |
| Rally Cyprus | B. Waldegard / F. Gallagher | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| Middle East Rally Championship | M. Bin Sulayem | Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64) | 1. | |
| 1989 | Rally Australia | J. Kankkunen / J. Piironen | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. |
| 1990 | Safari rally | B. Waldegard / F. Gallagher | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. |
| Acropolis Rally | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| Rally New Zealand | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| 1000 Lakes Rally | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| RAC rally | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| Middle East Rally Championship (Drivers) | M. Bin Sulayem / R. Morgan | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| Asian-Pacific Rally Championship (Drivers) | C. Sainz / L. Moya | 1. | ||
| World Championship of Drivers | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| World Championship of Manufacturers | 2. | |||
| 1991 | Monte Carlo Rally | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. |
| Portugal rally | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| Corsica Rally | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| Rally New Zealand | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| Rally Argentina | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| Rally Catalunya | A. Schwarz / A. Hertz | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 1. | |
| World Championship of Drivers | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST165) | 2. | |
| World Championship of Manufacturers | 2. | |||
| 1992 | Safari rally | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. |
| Rally New Zealand | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| Rally Catalunya | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| RAC rally | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| World Championship of Drivers | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| World Championship of Manufacturers | 2. | |||
| 1993 | Monte Carlo Rally | D. Auriol / B. Occelli | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. |
| Swedish Rally | M. Jonsson / L. Backman | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| Safari rally | J. Kankkunen / J. Piironen | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| Rally Argentina | J. Kankkunen / N. Grist | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| 1000 Lakes Rally | J. Kankkunen / D. Giraudet | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| Rally Australia | J. Kankkunen / N. Grist | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| RAC rally | J. Kankkunen / N. Grist | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| World Championship of Drivers | J. Kankkunen / N. Grist | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| World Championship of Manufacturers | 1. | |||
| 1994 | Portugal rally | J. Kankkunen / N. Grist | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. |
| Safari rally | Ian Duncan / David Williamson | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| Corsica Rally | D. Auriol / B. Occelli | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| Rally Argentina | D. Auriol / B. Occelli | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| Rally Sanremo | D. Auriol / B. Occelli | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| World Championship of Drivers | D. Auriol / B. Occelli | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. | |
| World Championship of Manufacturers | 1. | |||
| 1995 | Safari rally | Y. Fujimoto / A. Hertz | Celica GT-Four (ST185) | 1. |
| Tour de Corse | D. Auriol / D. Giraudet | Celica GT-Four (ST205) | 1. | |
| 1996 | European Rally Championship | A. Schwarz / D. Giraudet | Celica GT-Four (ST205) | 1. |
| RAC rally | A. Schwarz / D. Giraudet | Celica GT-Four (ST205) | 1. | |
| 1998 | Monte Carlo Rally | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Corolla WRC | 1. |
| Rally Catalunya | D. Auriol / D. Giraudet | Corolla WRC | 1. | |
| Rally New Zealand | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Corolla WRC | 1. | |
| World Championship of Drivers | C. Sainz / L. Moya | Corolla WRC | 2. | |
| World Championship of Manufacturers | 2. | |||
| 1999 | China rally | D. Auriol / D. Giraudet | Corolla WRC | 1. |
| World Championship of Manufacturers | 1. |
Le Mans history
.jpg)
In addition to leading the way in the World Rally Championship, the core team in Cologne developed the Toyota GT-One for Le Mans. The GT-One competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1998 and 1999 . Within these 2 years Toyota's best result was 2nd place in the 1999 race. Because of a flat tire in the last hour of the race, the victory was not achieved.
In 2011, Toyota supplied the Swiss sports car team Rebellion Racing with engines. In October 2011, TMG announced the resumption of its sports car program for the 2012 season. With the TS030 Hybrid , Toyota competed in the LMP1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship , which also includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The chassis of the prototype was developed by TMG in Cologne, the hybrid gasoline engine comes from Japan. Oreca supports the use of the vehicles. The car was supposed to make its debut at the 6-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps , but due to an accident during a test, it only took part in the 24-hour race at Le Mans . Neither of the two vehicles used reached the destination, a TS030 had an accident, the other was eliminated due to a technical defect. The Toyota won three of the remaining five races in the championship, and came second in the overall standings. In 2013 Toyota finished second at Le Mans , and with two victories, Toyota also achieved the result from the previous year in the endurance world championship.
The successor to the TS030, the TS040 Hybrid , won the 2014 World Championship. The cars were able to achieve 4 pole positions and 5 race victories, at Le Mans he couldn't get beyond third place due to technical problems. 2015 could not build on the success, two third results were the best results.
The TS050 Hybrid will be used from 2016, won the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2016 in Fuji and came in second overall. At Le Mans, Toyota was on the verge of its first victory at Le Mans, but the car in the lead suffered a technical defect three minutes before the end of the race. A year later, the long-awaited success came with a double victory by Kazuki Nakajima (with Sébastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso ) ahead of Kamui Kobayashi (with Mike Conway and José María López ).
Developments for series vehicles
Special models
In addition to its motorsport activities, TMG also investigated and developed vehicle production on behalf of Toyota and offered highly qualified and responsive engineering services. Various modified Toyota and Lexus street models came from the Cologne plant .
Engine tuning for series vehicles
In 2001 TTE released a compressor kit for the Lexus IS 200 , after installation the engine output increased from 155 hp to 204 hp. The measure adapted the maximum achievable speed of the automatic transmission to that of the manual transmission, and the acceleration values were also improved.
In 2002 TTE released a compressor kit for the Lexus RX 300 , which increased the SUV's engine output from 201 hp to 248 hp. When installed by TTE, the electronic limitation of the maximum speed was also lifted, so that it increased from 180 km / h to 215 km / h.
In 2003 TTE presented a retrofit turbo kit developed for the Toyota MR2 W3 Roadster at the Essen Motor Show , which helped the car to achieve 44 hp and 80 Nm more power. When installed by TTE in Frechen near Cologne, the full factory warranty was retained for the vehicle.
Web links
- Official website of Toyota Motorsport GmbH
- Autobild article about the MR2 Roadster TTE Turbo
- World Rally Championship: Drivers & Teams 2017
- TOYOTA Motorsport GmbH (TMG) is returning to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2017.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Official: Toyota returns to Le Mans! (Motorsport-Total.com on October 14, 2011)
- ↑ Toyota brings Oreca on board! (Motorsport-Total.com on October 26, 2011 2011)
- ↑ Lexus IS 200 compressor data sheet
- ↑ Autobild article on the Lexus RX 300 TTE