The latest auto news, reviews, prices, product and vehicle releases. Apr
19th
Stay connected Subscribe to our RSS feed
Toyota has revealed it is disappointed with the performance of its TS030 HYBRID car at the Six Hours of Silverstone.
Despite claiming a 1-2 in qualifying for the World Endurance Championship season opener, the Japanese manufacturer's pace dropped off dramatically during the race and both cars finished a lap down in third and fourth behind the leading Audis.
The result came as a surprise to Toyota, who by the end of the last WEC season, were perceived to have the best car on the grid, due to the TS030's its fuel efficiency and low levels of tire wear.
The pace of the first and second finishing Audi R18 e-tron quattros showed how much progress the Ingolstadt manufacturer has made over the winter, but Toyota is refusing the write the season off yet, considering it has started the 2013 season with its 2012 car. According to Autosport, the TS030 ‘still in the middle of its long-distance development programme.'
“Even though we brought our 2012 car to Silverstone we hoped to challenge for the victory so it is disappointing to miss out," said team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita some days after the race.
"Congratulations to Audi; as expected they have made a step forward over the winter and they performed well.”
The Japanese was also encouraged by the data the Cologne based team received from Silverstone and believes it can translate it to a better performance at the Six Hours of Spa on May 4th.
"We have also found additional performance with our 2013-specification TS030 HYBRID so we are more eager than ever to see what it can do at Spa next time.”
Sebastien Buemi, who finished third for the team at Silverstone was also equally as optimistic ahead of the Belgian race.
“It [was] a solid start to the season considering we used the 2012 car,” said the former Toro Rosso driver. “Nevertheless, we were not able to fight for the win.”
“We have lots we can learn from [the] weekend,” he continued. "We will move forward and improve for the second race; I can't wait for Spa.”
Despite claiming a 1-2 in qualifying for the World Endurance Championship season opener, the Japanese manufacturer's pace dropped off dramatically during the race and both cars finished a lap down in third and fourth behind the leading Audis.
The result came as a surprise to Toyota, who by the end of the last WEC season, were perceived to have the best car on the grid, due to the TS030's its fuel efficiency and low levels of tire wear.
 |
| Photo: Toyota Racing |
The pace of the first and second finishing Audi R18 e-tron quattros showed how much progress the Ingolstadt manufacturer has made over the winter, but Toyota is refusing the write the season off yet, considering it has started the 2013 season with its 2012 car. According to Autosport, the TS030 ‘still in the middle of its long-distance development programme.'
“Even though we brought our 2012 car to Silverstone we hoped to challenge for the victory so it is disappointing to miss out," said team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita some days after the race.
"Congratulations to Audi; as expected they have made a step forward over the winter and they performed well.”
The Japanese was also encouraged by the data the Cologne based team received from Silverstone and believes it can translate it to a better performance at the Six Hours of Spa on May 4th.
"We have also found additional performance with our 2013-specification TS030 HYBRID so we are more eager than ever to see what it can do at Spa next time.”
Sebastien Buemi, who finished third for the team at Silverstone was also equally as optimistic ahead of the Belgian race.
“It [was] a solid start to the season considering we used the 2012 car,” said the former Toro Rosso driver. “Nevertheless, we were not able to fight for the win.”
“We have lots we can learn from [the] weekend,” he continued. "We will move forward and improve for the second race; I can't wait for Spa.”