The never ending Toyota return to Le Mans (LMP1) Saga

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by Acid09

I agree, hard to believe that nobody aside from Tucker has picked him up yet, incredibly fast guy.

Maybe Montagny has been a bit picky, e.g., not wanting to do GT racing. On RLM they suggested that the Peugeot drivers that had a signed contract, are still being paying their salary.

[kurski]

Originally Posted by NelisB

Even though I would like to see Trulli in LMP's. I really hope Toyota aren't stupid enough to put even more unexperienced drivers in one of their cars. Montagny seems like a good choice. Loads of experience and a proven quick guy.

Sure, you're right in that respect that Montagny is better than Trulli. He has experience in LMP1 car.

[gwyllion]

Some updates from the Aragon test.

Originally Posted by @Nico_Lapierre

@alex_wurz @Toyota_Hybrid in Motorland long straight line ! http://pic.twitter.com/3641jqsW

Originally Posted by @Toyota_Hybrid

End of our first half-day of testing at Motorland. @alex_wurz was at the wheel this morning...

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by Steptoe

What about Enge? If he's available between blancpain commitments.

Haven't seen Enge lately really but I remember him to be rather error-prone with Aston Martin, there were a bunch of crashes with him involved if I remember correctly.

Not exactly what Toyota's notoriously short on parts operation needs.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Coopz21 x

Montagny i think

+1

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by TF110

That's weird, SuperGT isn't much slower thian LMP. Couple years ago they were equal or faster than LMP2, and this year they have even more power. Cornering speeds have to be close to P2 at least.

Maybe it is a cover story

BTW has Level 5 already announced its lineup for Le Mans? According to http://level5motorsports.com/tucker-...d-for-le-mans/ Tucker and Bouchut are comfirmed and the third driver "will be announced at a later date." Maybe Montagny will get that seat if he performs well at Laguna Seca. So Montagny might not be available after all.

[The Badger]

Oh yeah , never thought of that .

I would suggest if Montagny isnt at Level 5 , then Barbosa ?

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by The Badger

I would suggest if Montagny isnt at Level 5 , then Barbosa ?

Probably. There must be a reason why Barbosa was not announced immediately as 3rd driver for Le Mans. Maybe Tucker is/was looking for a better/faster driver to improve his chances.

BTW on the Laguna Seca entry list Montagny (and Tucker) as listed on both Level 5 cars (#95 and #055). So that race seems like a job application

[gwyllion]

Sam Collins' guess is on Kohei Hirate:

Originally Posted by @EnduranceSport

Toyota will inform the ACO of their replacement in due course #LeMans - Franck Montagny anyone?! Likely to be a Japanese driver though.

Originally Posted by @RacecarEngineer

Toyota looking for a new TS030 driver for Le Mans - any suggestions?

Originally Posted by @EnduranceSport

@RacecarEngineer we think they'll bring in a driver from their Super GT program though.

Originally Posted by @RacecarEngineer

@EnduranceSport Yes Hirate most likely

[Acid09]

Expected, I guess one Japanese driver per car is the minimum for Toyota, I'm actually surprised there isn't an all-Japanese car.

[aneesh99]

I'm quite suprised that Ito hasn't been mentioned, Japanese and has prototype experience to boot, pretty rapid driver.

Just seems to be one thing after another than adds yet more question marks to the Toyota effort

[Rennen]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Maybe Montagny has been a bit picky, e.g., not wanting to do GT racing. On RLM they suggested that the Peugeot drivers that had a signed contract, are still being paying their salary.

Quite right too!...'Contract' is the word! Especially after they left so many top line drivers high & dry so late on into the season!
For drivers of the Caliber of Bourdais, Pagenauld & Davidson not be in the World Championship or in with a chance to compete for the title is...is....is... (I can't think of a polite word...I'm so Hacked off, I even couldn't bear to watch or follow Sebring or SPA!) Grrrrrr!

[Articus]

Gee my heart almost stopped when I saw the words "Toyota" and "Withdraws" in the same line on the planetlemans homepage....
Good to see they havent called it quits.

[Articus]

Can they snap up Montagny?! He alone is worth a full second!

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by Articus

Can they snap up Montagny?! He alone is worth a full second!

It depends whether he is free and whether they are allowed to replace Ishiura with a non-Japanese driver.

[gwyllion]

More tweets about the ongoing test at Aragon.

Originally Posted by @alex_wurz

Had a great morning of testing the @Toyota_Hybrid TS030... Now its @Nico_Lapierre pushing !

Originally Posted by @alex_wurz

@antdavidson @Sebastien_buemi @kazuki_info watching @Nico_Lapierre on track ! #Aragon-motorland http://yfrog.com/oe8sgbrj

I guess that Wurz and Lapierre do some setup and development work today and the next two days is an 30 hour simulation with the 5 drivers.

[gwyllion]

@Rennen: Has Anthony already tested the car? Did he get much running the last time at Paul Ricard before Lapierre's incident?

[TF110]

Hah, cover story was something that came to mind. Maybe Isiura stepped aside because his pace wasn't on par and we get the 'back injury' high g-force story? Maybe not. But surely they'll put in an equally experienced driver at least. Any more pictures? The deltawing car is there as well, correct?

[alexkiller8]

beyond his gt500 experience, ishiura ran for years in formula nippon! so is really hard to believe that a driver who is able to run in really hard and competitive open wheel discipline, has physical problems to drive a lmp1. Sincerly i always believed that ishiura was the weak point of the team because of his lack of experience. Lapierre, wurz and davidson have a lot of experience in a coupè lmp1, while buemi and nakajima don't have experience but at least were f1 drivers.

[NelisB]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

It depends whether he is free and whether they are allowed to replace Ishiura with a non-Japanese driver.

They already have Nakajima. I doubt they really need a second japanese driver.

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by NelisB

They already have Nakajima. I doubt they really need a second japanese driver.

The presence of Japanese drivers is important for a Japanese manufacturer. Actually, I expected one all Japanese car during the winter, before they announced their driver lineup.

[TF110]

If they have 3 cars next year I wouldn't put that idea past them. I think it'd be great. Then put Davidson in with Wurz and Lapierre.

[KlBD]

Seconding all the calls for Hirate and Ito...especially Ito, if TMG wants to engage in some cheeky brinksmanship with Dome! Then again Toyota does have plenty of other quick Japanese drivers in their employ as well, so it's not as if they are grasping at straws!

[NelisB]

Originally Posted by TF110

If they have 3 cars next year I wouldn't put that idea past them. I think it'd be great. Then put Davidson in with Wurz and Lapierre.

I do expect a three car lineup next year with one car being all japanese. But for this year with being a learning year they should get as much experienced drivers as they can.

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by NelisB

I do expect a three car lineup next year with one car being all japanese. But for this year with being a learning year they should get as much experienced drivers as they can.

Agreed.

Would love to see an all-Japanese car at LM. There's something that just feels right about that. But as I said before if Toyota are really serious about competing at the sharp end then they have to go and get Montagny.

Just depends whether Scott Tucker has snapped him up already for June...