50°54′54″N6°51′47″E/ 50.9148623°N 6.8630095°E
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| Formerly | Andersson Motorsport GmbH Toyota Motorsport GmbH |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founder | Ove Andersson |
| Headquarters | WEC Cologne,Germany Susono,Japan WRC Jyväskylä,Finland |
| Owner | Toyota Motor Corporation |
| Parent | Toyota Motor Europe |
| Subsidiaries | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRTOy |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe GmbH(TGR-E) is an automotive engineering andmotorsportservices facility based inCologne,Germany.It is fully-owned and controlled byToyota Motor Corporation.[2][3][4]
TGR-E's principal operation is technical development of motorsport vehicles and their competitive entries on behalf ofToyota's Gazoo Racingbrand in theFIA'sWorld Endurance Championship(WEC) andWorld Rally Championship(WRC). The latter is run from a satellite facility inJyväskylä,Finland,known asToyota Gazoo Racing WRT.[3][5]
TGR-E was also previously known asAndersson MotorsportandToyota Motorsport GmbH(TMG), both of which ranToyota Team Europe(TTE) entries in the WRC.
History
editAndersson Motorsport
editTGR-E began as Andersson Motorsport in Sweden, a company established by rally driverOve Anderssonfor his own motorsport career. His relationship with Toyota began in 1972 when he was offered a Toyota Celica to drive in theRAC Rallyin the autumn of that year. The relationship developed and from 1973, Andersson Motorsport was appointed for responsibility of Toyota's works entries in the then newWorld Rally Championship,competing in the name ofToyota Team Europe (TTE).[6][7]In 1975, the team and organisation moved to Brussels, Belgium; then again in 1979 to Cologne, Germany where it was established as Andersson Motorsport GmbH.[8]
Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG)
editIn 1993, Toyota Motor Corporation bought Andersson Motorsport GmbH and renamed it to Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG). Andersson remained as team manager of TTE.[9][10]At this time, as a fully owned part of Toyota, TMG were employing 300 staff from 17 nations.[citation needed]
In1998and1999,TMG entered the24 Hours of Le Mans,finishing 2nd in 1999 with theirToyota GT-One.
After 1999, Toyota stopped participating in rallying and sportscar racing in order to prepare for a switch toFormula One(F1) in2002using existing TMG resources.[11]From 2002 to 2009, TMG operated its parent company's Formula One team namedPanasonic Toyota Racing,starting 139 Grands Prix. In that time they finished on the podium 13 times, earned three pole positions and scored a total of 278.5 points. TMG also provided their Toyota F1 engines to theJordan Formula One Teamin 2005, which was then sold and renamed asMidland F1 Racingin 2006, but continued using Toyota F1 engines until their withdrawal from F1 at the end of 2006.Williams Formula One Teamwere also TMG's customers for their Toyota F1 engines from 2007 to 2009. On 4 November 2009, Toyota announced their withdrawal from F1.[12]
TMG moved back into sports car racing from 2011 as an engine supplier toLola Cars,poweringRebellion Racing.In 2012, TMG fully returned to sports car competition entries with theToyota TS030 Hybridin the World Endurance Championship.[6]
In 2015, it was announced Toyota would return to the World Rally Championship in 2017 with a Yaris WRC built and prepared by TMG in Cologne.[13]However, several months later it was announced TMG would only be responsible for engine development whilstTommi Mäkinen Racing Oy(TMR) would develop the car and run the entry from Finland.[14]
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe
editTMG was renamed to Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe in April 2020.[10]In 2021, TGR-E assumed the running of the WRC team from Tommi Mäkinen Racing.[15]
Motorsport activities
edit | |
| Founded | 1979 |
|---|---|
| Base | Cologne,Germany(FIA WEC) Jyväskylä,Finland(FIA WRC) |
| Teamprincipal(s) | Kamui Kobayashi(FIA WEC) Jari-Matti Latvala(FIA WRC) |
| Current series | FIA World Endurance Championship FIA World Rally Championship |
| Former series | FIA Formula One World Championship |
| Current drivers |  Nyck de Vries Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi José María López Sébastien BuemiRyo Hirakawa Brendon Hartley Sébastien OgierElfyn Evans Kalle RovanperäTakamoto Katsuta |
| Teams' Championships | FIA World Rally Championship:1993,1994,1999,2018,2021,2022,2023,2024 FIA World Endurance Championship:2014,2018–19,2019–20,2021,2022,2023,2024 |
| Drivers' Championships | FIA World Rally Championship:1990,1992,1993,1994,2019,2020,2021,2022,2023 FIA World Endurance Championship:2014,2018–19,2019–20,2021,2022,2023 |
| Website | www |
Rally
editToyota Team Europe
edit
Toyota Team Europe (TTE) began in February 1975. In August of that year,Hannu Mikkolawon TTE's first rally, the1000 Lakes Rallyin a Corolla 1600, where the competition used 2.0 L engines.
In September 1987, TTE moved to a larger premises, in which they still reside. It was also the time they revealed their firstfour wheel drivecar, theToyota Celica GT-Four,driven byJuha KankkunenandKenneth Eriksson.Carlos Sainzwon the1990FIAWorld Rally ChampionshipTitle for DriverswithST165.The newer GT-Four,ST185,made its debut at the1992Rallye Monte Carlo, culminating in Sainz again winning the title in this year. The ST185 also won the WRC Driver's andManufacturer'sTitles in1993withJuha Kankkunen,and in1994withDidier Auriol.
In1995TTE was banned for 12 months[16]from theWorld Rally Championship(WRC) for cheating by designing an illegal air restrictor[17]on the ST205 that included both a bypass mechanism and spring-loaded devices to conceal it from scrutineers.[18]While under suspension in1996(as well in1997,when the Corolla was not yet ready), Toyota continued to support the Celica ST205 rallied by Italian HF Grifone team, Toyota Team Sweden, Marlboro Toyota Team Belgium, and Tein Sport in selected WRC events.[citation needed]
Toyota Castrol Team
edit
In the newWorld Rally Carera of the WRC, Toyota introduced theCorolla WRCin the 1997 Rally of Finland with a new team name sponsored by the lubricants company,Castrol.The team however, did not enter the manufacturer's championship that year. When they returned to contest the championship in1998,they did so with the Corolla WRC driven by the crews of Carlos Sainz/Luis Moyaand Didier Auriol/Denis Giraudet.They finished the season in second overall in both the Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships.
In1999however, the manufacturers championship was taken, the third in TTE's existence. Toyota withdrew from rallying at the end of the 1999 season in order for Toyota Motorsport GmbH to focus on entries in Formula One andCART.[19]The facility continued to provide services and support to customer teams within the sport.
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
editToyota Motorsport developed an early prototypeToyota Yaris WRCin preparation for the Toyota Gazoo Racing entry in the 2017 World Rally Championship.[13]Ultimately, TMG only produced the engine whilst Tommi Mäkinen Racing Oy of Finland (TMR) developed a new Yaris WRC around it. In 2021, following the purchase by Toyota, TMR was subsequently renamed to Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team Oy, and it became a branch of TGR-E. The facility in Cologne continued to provide engines for the new hybridToyota GR Yaris Rally1car used in WRC from 2022.[20]
Formula One
editSports car racing history
edit
In addition to spearheading Toyota's efforts in the World Rally Championship, the group has also developed and run theToyota GT-OneandToyota TS030 Hybridinsports car racing.The GT-One entered the24 Hours of Le Mansin both1998and1999,and the TS030 Hybrid made its début in2012.
GT-One
editIntroduced in time forLe Mans in 1998,the GT-One first appeared at the official testing days for the race held in May. Three GT-Ones appeared, setting the second, fifth, and tenth best times, easily beating out custom built prototypes which were meant to be the superior class. For the race week itself, all three cars performed admirably in qualifying by continuing their quick pace, qualifying second, seventh, and eighth, being beaten only by their GT class competitor, Mercedes-Benz. For the race itself, the No. 28 GT-One suffered from a high speed accident halfway through the race, taking it out of competition. The two other entrants continued to fight on, both remaining in the top 10. However, within the closing hours, the higher ranked No. 29 GT-One suffered a gearbox failure while in competition for the race win. Thus Toyota was left to take ninth place in the race with the lone No. 27 entry, which ended the race 25 laps behind the winningPorsche 911 GT1.
Their1999 24 Hours of Le Mansstarted bitterly after the team was plagued by multipleMichelintyre failures, the situation becoming somewhat reminiscent of 1998, when the No. 1 and No. 2 car were retired.Martin Brundlein the No. 1 Toyota suffered a puncture at high speed on theMulsanne Straight,the cars rear suspension was badly damaged and he was unable to get back to the pits. The No. 2 Toyota being driven byThierry Boutsenwas next to go when he suffered a high speed crash under the Dunlop bridge due to a rapid deflation. The car was destroyed and Boutsen suffered injury to his lower back. At the break of dawn, the No. 15 BMW was almost a lap ahead of the No. 3 Toyota which had been quietly cruising around at a steady pace. With this sniff of a winUkyo Katayamaput the foot down in the Toyota and set the fastest lap of the race. He narrowed the gap to less than a minute till again a tyre blowout befell the Toyota team again. Katayama was however able to return to the pits for new tyres and continued. He managed to finish second after a valiant effort placing first in the GT-P class. However, they fell short of the overall victory at Le Mans, which would have made them only the second Japanese manufacturer to get an overall win (Mazdabeing the first in1991).
The GT-One raced only once more, a single entrant appearing in the1999 Le Mans Fuji 1000km.Although the race mostly consisted of Japanese teams, thus leaving out most of the manufacturers that had competed at Le Mans, Toyota still had to compete against rival Nissan, who also entered theirR391.In the end the GT-One would fall short once again, finishing second and only one lap behind the winning R391.
The GT-One program was not continued into 2000, Toyota instead turning TTE into leaders of the newToyota F1team. This would mark a hiatus in Toyota's attempts at Le Mans until the 2012 season, over a decade later, when Toyota decided to once again contest at the top tier of sports car racing.
Toyota TS030 Hybrid
edit
In October 2011, Toyota announced its return to Le Mans in2012after twelve-year hiatus, with ahybrid-powered Le Mans Prototype,sporting a petrol engine similar to that found in their customer P1 car. The car would be entered in the inaugural season of theFIA World Endurance Championship,though it would miss thefirst roundof the series.
Toyota suffered a severe setback with a crash in late April preventing the debut of the car at the2012 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps,but managed to get two TS030s ready by Le Mans. Unfortunately, neither car finished the race: the #8 car being driven byAnthony Davidsonsuffered a massive crash with a Ferrari 458 (which also fractured two of Davidson's vertebrae), while the No. 7 car hit theDeltaWingand later retired with an engine failure.
Toyota continued to compete in the rest of the WEC season with a single car, collecting three wins including the6 Hours of Fuji.
At the2013 24 Hours of Le MansToyota achieved its fourth second-place finish at Le Mans with a revised Toyota TS030 driven byStéphane Sarrazin,Anthony DavidsonandSébastien Buemi.The sister car finished in fourth several laps down.
Toyota finished the WEC season in second place again, taking two wins at rain-shortened Fuji and Shanghai.
Toyota TS040 Hybrid
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Toyota announced in October 2013 that it would continue racing in the World Endurance Championship in 2014. In order to comply with new-for-2014 LMP1 rules, Toyota revealed its new car, theToyota TS040 Hybrid.The car has a 3.7L V8 normally aspirated petrol engine powering the rear wheels, and regenerative-braking devices at both axles to allow temporaryfour-wheel drive.
Toyota TS050 Hybrid
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TheToyota TS050 Hybridwas developed for the2016 FIA World Endurance Championship.It was powered by theH89092.4L V6 twin-turbo petrol engine for the first time and a 2.22 kWh battery hybrid system.
Toyota GR010 Hybrid
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TheToyota GR010 Hybridcompeted in the2021 FIA World Endurance Championshipunder the newLe Mans Hypercarregulations. It has a 3.5L V6 twin-turbo petrol engine connected to the rear wheels, and a battery hybrid system connected to the front wheels.[21]
24 Hours of Le Mans results
edit
FIA World Endurance Championship results
edit† Season still in progress.
- ^López replaced Conway for one race at Le Mans.
Other activities
editTMG EV P001 electric car
editThe company revealed in its annual review[when?]that it has developed an electric racing car based on theRadicalsportscar, along with Cologne companye-Wolf.TheTMG EV P001was developed using knowledge Toyota Motorsport gained during its KERS development for F1 and used some of the company's dedicated engine dynos, including an 'EV component test rig'.[citation needed] In August 2011 it set a newlap recordfor an electric vehicle at theNürburgring Nordschleifeof 7mins 47.794secs.[22]The company says this proves the ability of their technology to be competitive in racing, and that they would like to enter an electric championship.[23]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"About Us".
- ^CORPORATION, TOYOTA MOTOR."Toyota's European R&D Base Changes its Name | Corporate | Global Newsroom".Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website.Retrieved21 April2020.
- ^abAlastair Moffitt."TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Europe - New era begins for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Europe".tgr-europe.Archived fromthe originalon 8 August 2020.Retrieved21 April2020.
- ^"Home Page".TOYOTA GAZOO Racing.Retrieved12 January2023.
- ^"TGR WRT".Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT.Retrieved12 January2023.
- ^ab"About Us".TOYOTA GAZOO Racing.Retrieved12 January2023.
- ^"Ove Andersson, 1938-2008".autosport.Retrieved20 January2023.
- ^"juwra | Teams – About Toyota Team Europe (TTE)".juwra.Retrieved12 January2023.
- ^"juwra | Managers - Ove Andersson".juwra.Retrieved20 January2023.
- ^ab"New era begins for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Europe".New era begins for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Europe.Retrieved12 January2023.
- ^"Toyota's doomed attempt to conquer F1 with a Le Mans team: 'They couldn't handle the pace'".Motor Sport Magazine.25 March 2022.Retrieved20 January2023.
- ^"Toyota withdraws from Formula 1".BBC.The British Broadcasting Corporation. 4 November 2009.Retrieved24 August2020.
- ^ab"Toyota Yaris WRC car marks return to rallying in 2017".Drive.30 January 2015.Retrieved12 January2023.
- ^"Toy story - Tommi Mäkinen and Toyota are back in the WRC".Autocar.Retrieved12 January2023.
- ^"Toyota takes charge of WRC programme from 2021".WRC - World Rally Championship.Retrieved12 January2023.
- ^"Shalco - TTE's Illegal Turbo's".Archived fromthe originalon 4 February 2012.Retrieved8 December2011.
- ^"Cheats - the Technical Forum Archive".
- ^"Board Message".Forums.autosport.Retrieved27 November2011.
- ^"Sainz and Auriol left stranded".
- ^"Chassis & Powertrain Development".
- ^"Toyota GR010 Hybrid Unveiled With Twin-Turbo 3.5-Liter V6 For Le Mans Hypercar Class".Carscoops.15 January 2021.Retrieved15 January2021.
- ^"New EV lap record for TMG"(Press release). Toyota Motorsport GmbH. 30 August 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 26 November 2011.Retrieved30 August2011.
- ^TMG EV P001 promotional video, 2011