Toyota TS010
| Toyota | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| TS010 | |
| Production period: | 1991-1993 |
| Class : | race car |
| Body versions : | Coupe |
| Engines: |
Petrol engines : 3.5 liters (441-515 kW) |
| Length: | 4800 mm |
| Width: | 2000 mm |
| Height: | 1030 mm |
| Wheelbase : | |
| Empty weight : | 750 kg |
| Previous model | Toyota 90C-V |
| successor | GT-One TS020 |
The Toyota TS010 was a prototype developed by Toyota for sports car racing in 1991 .
Development history and technology
When the TS010 was designed, Toyota had already been building racing cars for a number of years. With the Toyota 90C-V had 1,990 Geoff Lees, Hitoshi Ogawa and Masanori Sekiya at the 24-hour race at Le Mans reached the sixth place in the overall standings. When the FIA adopted new technical regulations for the races of the World Sports Car Championship in 1992 , Toyota was the last automobile manufacturer to build a racing vehicle for this new racing concept. Under the influence of the Formula 1 -Veranstalters Bernie Ecclestone , the FIA wanted the car manufacturer Toyota, Mercedes-Benz , Peugeot , Jaguar and Porsche to switch from the World Sportscar Championship move into F1. It was accepted that this would lead to the end of the major sports car races. The new technical regulations therefore almost corresponded to the regulations of Formula 1. Critics described the new prototypes as Formula 1 vehicles with a body. Toyota works driver Andy Wallace was faster than Ayrton Senna with the McLaren MP4 / 6 at the 1991 Italian Grand Prix in test drives with the TS010 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in late 1991 . Andy Wallace reported after the test drives that the downforce in the high gears was enormous.
When developing the TS010, Toyota took a different approach than with previous prototypes. Until now, Japanese technicians had always designed the cars, but the British Tony Southgate was hired to build the TS010 . Southgate had extensive experience building Formula 1 racing cars and in recent years has developed the Jaguar XJR prototypes . Toyota built a new 3.5 liter V10 engine , drawing inspiration from the Renault and Ferrari Formula 1 engines. Like these engines, the Toyota power unit had five valves per cylinder and a tilt angle of 72 degrees.
Southgate built a car at the weight limit of 750 kg, which gave a specific power of 0.8 hp per 1 kg with a nearly 700 hp engine . The monocoque was made of carbon fiber and the rear wheels were clad with covers to improve aerodynamics. The g-force was very high in fast corners at 5 g.
Racing history
The TS010 made its racing debut at the 430 km Autopolis race in 1991 . The race was the eighth race and the final event of the 1991 World Sports Car Championship . The race was well chosen because the world championship had long been decided, but the most important Group C teams were at the start with the works teams from Jaguar, Peugeot, Sauber and Mazdaspeed . Then there were the customer Porsche 962 . This strong competition made it possible for Toyota to make a first comparison with its own prototype. The car was driven by the two experienced British sports car drivers Geoff Lees and Andy Wallace. After the race there was disillusionment. It became evident that there was still considerable development work to be done compared to the main competitors. Although Geoff Lees and Andy Wallace achieved sixth place in the standings, had the goal but already three laps behind the Mercedes-Benz C291 of Michael Schumacher and Karl Wendlinger . Jaguar and Peugeot also placed their factory cars in front of the Toyota. You could leave the two Mazda 787Bs and some Porsche 962s behind .
At the first race of the sports car world championship in 1992 , the first race victory followed after extensive test drives. Jaguar and Sauber had ended their sports car programs. Jaguar had completely withdrawn from motorsport and Sauber was preparing to enter the 1993 Formula 1 World Championship . The opponents remained Peugeot with a further development stage of the Peugeot 905 and Mazdaspeed. At the 500 km race in Monza, Geoff Lees and the Japanese Hitoshi Ogawa won ahead of the Peugeot of Derek Warwick and Yannick Dalmas . However, only two vehicles were considered in this race. The second TS010, driven by Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace, was canceled after an accident. How close the Group C cars were to the Formula 1 monoposto in terms of speed could be seen from the fact that Derek Warwick's pole position time of 1.26.019 minutes was faster than the fastest race lap by Nigel Mansell in the Williams FW14B at the Italian Grand Prix in late summer of the year. Mansell set a time of 1.26.119 minutes. In qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, Mansell drove a significantly faster time of 1.22.221 minutes, but Warwick's time would have been enough to qualify for 23rd place in the F1 field!
In the second race of the season, the 500 km race at Silverstone , there was no finish for either of the registered works cars. Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace's car had an engine failure after just nine laps, and Geoff Lees and Hitoshi Ogawa's vehicle stopped electrical damage after 55 laps.
The highlight of the season was the Le Mans 24-hour race , where Toyota started with three vehicles. The car with the starting number 7 was driven by Geoff Lees, David Brabham and Ukyō Katayama . In TS010 with the number 8 sat next to Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace the Italian Teo Fabi . The third car, number 9, was driven by Pierre-Henri Raphanel , Kenny Acheson and Masanori Sekiya. While the number 7 failed with engine failure and the car with the number 8 came in eighth place in the overall standings after a few unplanned pit stops, the car with the number 9 achieved second place overall, beaten only by the Peugeot 905 of Derek Warwick, Yannick Dalmas and Mark Blundell .
This was followed by third place in the 500 km race in Donington and a second place overall in the 1000 km race in Suzuka . The second win of the season came in the Fuji 1000 km race , a race in the Japanese sports car championship. In the last race of the sports car world championship so far, the 500 km race in Magny-Cours , Geoff Lees and Jan Lammers took third place. Andy Wallace and David Brabham finished fourth.
After the end of the sports car world championship in 1993, the commitment was limited to the Le Mans 24-hour race . Again three works cars were at the start. The car with the number 36 was driven by Eddie Irvine , Toshio Suzuki and Masanori Sekiya in fourth place overall. Pierre-Henri Raphanel, Andy Wallace and Kenny Acheson's car retired with a gearbox damage and Geoff Lees, Jan Lammers and Juan Manuel Fangio II were classified in eighth position in the final standings. With this race the TS010 project ended.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tom Bower: Bernie Ecclestone: I am Formula 1 - biography vgs, Cologne 2011
- ↑ Andy Wallace reports on test drives in Monza ( Memento of the original from March 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Sixth place overall in the debut race in Autopolis ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ First race win in Monza
- ↑ Warwick Pole Position Time
- ↑ Mansell's time at the Formula 1 Grand Prix
- ↑ [1]
