[WEC] Toyota LMP1 Discussion

[kvenom]

Originally Posted by GasperG

I'm huge Toyota fan, but face it, no one showed their hand on test day, fact is Toyota must find more speed then other two and I'm afraid that is unlikely. But then again strategy, pit stop times, safety cars, can quickly render 1s per lap out, I hope it will be tight.

Don't forget tire wear, that double stinting at Spa was eye opening.

[Acid09]

Toyota has openly said that they consider tire management as their possible ace in the hole this year, getting the most out of the tires is apparently what their setup work is focused on as well.

As such I doubt we'll be getting any definitive answers about their competitiveness before the race.

[Artur]

Originally Posted by kvenom

Don't forget tire wear, that double stinting at Spa was eye opening.

Well, last today to enjoy the hope of a closed field for all of us

[TF110]

They seemingly ran used tires in the afternoon test session. I don't know if Porsche and Audi did that. The fact is they were over 2 seconds faster than last year without really trying. Audi and Porsche were about the same as last year. That means it's a 3-way race. And that's all that really matters imo.

[sssssssss]

that's true. i think it will be very close indeed. and let's not forget it's not always about the pure pace. if toyota aren't as far back as last year, and they certainly aren't, any mistake or technical problem for porsche and audi, which seem far from bulletproof this year, can put toyota at the top. i think it will be very interesting and i expect this year's race to resemble the classic races of the past. when all major competitors are within 2 seconds from one another, anything can happen and, usually, it does.

[gustavobamba]

Anything could happen this year:

Porsche, Audi and Toyota have 2 cars;

They all have some sorte of issues in the 2 past races;

Toyota are much closer in terms of pace....

Le Mans, like always, will chose who is going to win

[Acid09]

Interesting tidbits from the usually well-informed Marcus Schurig:

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/m...-10751014.html

According to internal calculations, TMG expects to be about a second off in race pace. The gap in qualifying will be larger as Toyota won't even bother to operate with any dedicated qualifying boost settings.

So as expect, Toyota will likely not have the fastest car but certainly be quick enough to be a factor.

[Victor_RO]

A second off is definitely in the ballpark and something that can be made up through strategy.

[gustavobamba]

If they manage to go without any serious issues... they might have a real chance.

The tire management will be vital for them

[sssssssss]

speaking recently about to speeds... 337 km/h by toyota already on the onboard telemetry.

[ederss7]

Originally Posted by sssssssss

speaking recently about to speeds... 337 km/h by toyota already on the onboard telemetry.

And in 6th gear only.

[chernaudi]

I'm starting to think that unless we see something different from Audi, that they and Toyota are probably using top gear as an overdrive for saving fuel.

[dbagtbag]

Originally Posted by sssssssss

speaking recently about to speeds... 337 km/h by toyota already on the onboard telemetry.

What onboard footage is this?

[sssssssss]

Originally Posted by dbagtbag

What onboard footage is this?

just the normal eurosport footage. they bring the onboard telemetry in every now and then.

[mike46and2]

I wonder how much time an extra lap really buys over 24 hours . I'm sure one of you know ?

[TF110]

Toyota are purpling sector 2, super fast. I think we'll have a great shootout.

[Acid09]

What Sarrazin just did it was Toyota has to avoid, they have to have clean runs, they can't afford to lose time with incidents.

[JoeW04]

Originally Posted by Acid09

What Sarrazin just did it was Toyota has to avoid, they have to have clean runs, they can't afford to lose time with incidents.

Bamber dropped it in the same session last year and it all turned out okay, hopefully it's a sign

[sssssssss]

Originally Posted by TF110

Toyota are purpling sector 2, super fast. I think we'll have a great shootout.

the session apparently still ended up with porsche having the best sector 2, the only ones to go below the 1:17 mark there (1:16.917 jani vs. 1:17.217 nakajima). well, actually, it ended up with porsche having all the best sectors...

[cokata]

Originally Posted by sssssssss

the session apparently still ended up with porsche having the best sector 2, the only ones to go below the 1:17 mark there (1:16.917 jani vs. 1:17.217 nakajima). well, actually, it ended up with porsche having all the best sectors...

Jani looked to be on a proper "qually-ish sim". We will see in qually how things go, but if all teams push equally as much S2 will be owned by toyota, and maybe even audi will be quicker than Porsche there.

[sssssssss]

i wouldn't be so sure about that. audi still have better top speed than toyota (although, as usual, the speed traps don't show it), but porsche probably still have got the best corner exit and compensate their lack of top end speed on the first half of the straights. i don't think jani was in quali mode either, i expect them to be much faster in the coming session.

[cokata]

Originally Posted by sssssssss

i wouldn't be so sure about that. audi still have better top speed than toyota (although, as usual, the speed traps don't show it), but porsche probably still have got the best corner exit and compensate their lack of top end speed on the first half of the straights. i don't think jani was in quali mode either, i expect them to be much faster in the coming session.

They are 10 kph down on the others. If they are so much quicker on braking / cornering / traction, that they compensate the huge straight line deficit in S2 which is almost exclusively about that, they will blitz everyone else by over a second in S1

[sssssssss]

they did that last year too... they weren't able to hit more than 334 km/h without a good slipstream, but stil had by far the best sector 2 times. audi were doing 345 km/h with no slipstream but couldn't match their sector 2 times.

[cokata]

Originally Posted by sssssssss

they did that last year too... they weren't able to hit more than 334 km/h without a good slipstream, but stil had by far the best sector 2 times. audi were doing 345 km/h with no slipstream but couldn't match their sector 2 times.

Last year they were hitting 335kph in clean air, and they were the only ones with 8MJ hybrid system which equally as importantly was battery based which gives them much more freedom in choosing how to deploy thought the lap. Their hybrid advantage is pretty much gone now, and they have gone for the most downforce of the 3, unlike last year.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by sssssssss

i wouldn't be so sure about that. audi still have better top speed than toyota (although, as usual, the speed traps don't show it), but porsche probably still have got the best corner exit and compensate their lack of top end speed on the first half of the straights. i don't think jani was in quali mode either, i expect them to be much faster in the coming session.

That's questionable. Toyota were faster than Audi in sector 2 1:17.2 vs 1:17.3 and had a higher top speed 334.9kmh vs 332.9kmh. We'll see soon if Audi goes better. But the info earlier seems to be that Toyota don't have a qualifying spec to their car so what you see is what you get.