Toyota has 24 Hours of Le Mans almost locked down for several years now, since Porsche left the scene. porsche hahaNow, of course, like Peugeot, Ferrari and Cadillac, have returned to the highest level of global endurance racing. In case you’re worried Toyota might sweat it out in competition and underwriting, don’t worry: It really have another plan. II want to come up with a hydrogen-burning energy-powered prototype to win it all in the second half of the decade.
The announcement comes ahead of this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans — the 100th race, we should add — where Toyotas will start in third and fifth, split by a Porsche 963. and led by two Ferraris at the top of the table. Toyota has brought a concept called GR H2 that shows what this hydrogen-powered Hypercar could look like. Safely speaking, it’s much slimmer than quick and dirty model Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus posted to ‘gram two years ago.
The GR H2 isn’t just for show. Gazoo Racing’s top brass seems to really believe that once the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) overseeing Le Mans got rid of its hydrogenen class plans to take effect in 2026, a future version of the GR H2 could vie for the overall victory. That’s something that you think Toyota executives would be very interested in, considering how they just can’t let the hydrogen go away. polite Motorsport.com:
“Everything is possible with the push of technology,” [technical director of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe Pascal] Vasselon told Motorsport.com.
“There are no barriers if the level of technology allows – it has to be possible.
“In most cases, the performance level of a race car is determined by the regulations.”
Vsselon’s comments come after ACO president Pierre Fillon confirmed plans for a new hydrogen at the Le Mans 24 Hours and during the WEC in Fuji last month.
He made some important announcements about a class that has been planned since 2018 ahead of the Fuji 24 Hours, in which Toyota is competing with the latest version of the hydrogen-powered Corolla H2 Concept.
These include opening up the catalog for cars powered by internal combustion engines that run on hydrogen as well as the fuel cells it was originally conceived of, and he also stated his desire to see all cars in the class. Hydrogen-powered Hypercar by 2030.
Vasselon says combustion makes more sense for racing applications than using hydrogen fuel cells.
“The technology is lighter, simpler and a bit more suitable for racing applications,” he explains.
ACO seems to envision all prototypes using hydrogen in some capacity – direct combustion or by using fuel cells – by the end of the decade. That might seem a bit presumptuous, as no major player in the sport has seriously advocated replacing gasoline with any enthusiasm to this day. In addition to Toyota, BMW will compete for Le Mans starting in 2024 with M hybrid V8 . engineAnd BMW also invests similarly in hydrogen. Hyundai has also long-rumored to join the top class, and it offers a hydrogen fuel cell car of its own called Nexo.
All we can do now is wait patiently and see how a potential H2 burning portfolio develops. If anyone would do this job, you would think it would be Toyota, the manufacturer sold about 2,100 Mirai . fuel cell electric vehicles for Californians last year, the state had 54 of the country’s 55 hydrogen refueling stations. that is dedication.
