Toyota has launched its GR010 for this 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship season, with the car undergoing what Toyota has called “a programme of detail evolutions”.
This in the face of the increased competition in the Hypercar class, from the likes of Ferrari, Peugeot, Cadillac, ByKolles, Isotta Fraschini, and more. Peugeot previously raced in three races last year with its wingless 9X8, and has focused its efforts over the winter on reliability, something it struggled with in 2022.
The tweaked GR010 has some aerodynamic upgrades, namely new front diveplanes and smaller rear wing end plates. It’s also been on a diet, with the Japanese manufacturer reducing the weight from 1100kg to 1040kg.
The former weight was a result of the previous Hypercar rules, before the convergence with the LMDh ruleset reduced the weight down, creating direct parity between the two.
Finally, Toyota has also made some reliability updates to the 3.5-litre, twin-turbo V6 engine.
The driver line up stays the same as in previous years, with Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa in the #8 GR010, while Jose Maria Lopez, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi — also the squad’s team principal — in the #7.
Pascal Vasselon, Toyota’s technical director, said: “We have made evolutions to our car to further improve reliability, drivability and serviceability, part of our normal long-term plan for continuous improvement.
“We implemented a big evolution for 2022 with the change of wheel size, which was necessary to address some issues we were suffering from, and it delivered the benefits we expected. The modifications we have made for 2023 are the normal next step in this process, and we have seen encouraging results in pre-season testing.
“It is exciting to compete against new entrants in Hypercar this year, particularly for the fans, but our approach doesn’t change. The job remains the same; we aim to win, so we must get the maximum out of our package, without mistakes. That is how we always approach racing.
