
The Toyota 94 CV finished second in the 1994 Le Mans 24 Hours by Irvine-Martini-Krosnoff.
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced this morning in Tokyo that it will race in the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) World Endurance Championship in 2012, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, with a prototype LMP1 car, the fastest, most expensive class.
Toyota Motorsport’s high-performance technical center in Cologne, Germany, where the chassis has been designed, developed and produced, will be the base for the team.
The Toyota LMP1 racecar will have a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain developed in Japan. Further details of the program, such as team name, drivers and races, were withheld.
This will be the first year of the international endurance race series created through a link between the FIA and the ACO (the Automobile Club de l’Ouest). It has been thirteen years since Toyota’s last official participation. Porsche has also announced it will return to Le Mans in the top category in 2014. (See Porsche Returns to Le Mans in 2014. Will VW Group Spend Millions to Compete Against Itself with Audi in the Top Class?)
To date, the ACO has run the Le Mans 24 Hours in France, and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, with races in Europe, the United States and Asia. In March, the ACO and the FIA announced their partnership and the FIA World Endurance Championship to start in 2012. The inaugural year is expected to feature a series of races in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, in addition to the Le Mans 24 Hours.
“We have competed in Le Mans before, but by using our hybrid technology, our participation in 2012 will be completely new,” said Senior Managing Officer Tadashi Yamashina, who is in charge of Motorsports at Toyota.
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About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.