Speculation - Toyota F1>LeMans

[Carlos]

"There have been rumours of such a move for some time with the suggestion being that Toyota will ease its way out of F1 by giving the Le Mans hybrid programme a high profile and leaving Williams as its representative in Grand Prix racing.
There is much potential for increased sales of hybrid machinery around the world in the light of the increasing pressure to think about the environment and Toyota's early involvement in the development means that it has patented many of the ideas that others now wish to use. This means that the company also stands to make considerable money by licensing its technology to other car companies."
Split quote from http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns19988.html

[Tom]

The sad thing is Toyota abandoned its successful rally entry for F1, despite being caught cheating and being banned for a season they were incredably good at the WRC and their departure lead the sport on a downward slope to only having 3 company teams and only 2 capable of putting up a real challenge last season.

However Toyota have enjoyed sportscar racing in the past and will do so again, I have no doubt. Its a sport they can show off their eco-power plans too.

[checkered]

Couple this news

with the ALMS eco-drive and you'll "get the drift". F1 will risk being marginalised if it can't find a way to relax engine rules instead of coming up with consecutive homologation schemes. Fast. As said elsewhere, I'll keep a close eye on ALMS from now on and if Toyota's Le Mans effort brings it to that fold too, I'll be more than happy to welcome them - while being increasingly worried that F1 is headed for the tar pits of peak oil.

[vyselegend]

Endurance racing is really transforming into a battle between energy industries, more than a battle between manufacturers.

Fuel vs Bio-fuel vs Diesel vs Hybrid powered cars, now I wait for BMW to present a Hydrogen powered Le Mans programme, and it will be complete...

Maybe Le Mans 2030 will be won by an anti-matter engine.

[dumrick]

This rumors also refer that this possibility is being considered for 2010, date when significant evolutions in the Le Mans categories should come into place, with the introduction of the vehicles currently designated as "LMP1 Evo". However, no regulations currently exist or have been mentioned for hybrid vehicles in Le Mans racing.
A working cell is reported to have already been created, grouping engineers from the "Motorsport" and "Hybrid" programs. Since the F1 cell is based in Europe and the Nascar cell I believe to be based in the US, maybe the only field this fourth major competition program is coming to disturb is the Super GT, where Toyota has already won the 24 Hours of Tokachi with the hybrid Supra HV-R.

[West]

The TS020 was my first 1:18 scale model car.

I would not mind Toyota dropping out of F1, seeing as they fell off the Earth after their spectacular 2005 season. They could develop a relationship like McLaren does with Mercedes-Benz. It would be nice to see another manufacturer at Le Mans, instead of just Peugeot and Audi at the top.

Hell, they can shoot for the moon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLS5s2nm ... re=related