Is Toyota Going To Win Every WEC Race In 2018/19?

Toyota has officially confirmed that it's staying in the LMP1 class of the World Endurance Championship next year but as the only manufacturer team, is anyone else going to get a look in?
Is Toyota Going To Win Every WEC Race In 2018/19?

A couple of years ago, LMP1 was booming. Toyota, Porsche, and Audi were putting on an incredible show at the front with very different cars, Nissan had a stab with the radical front-wheel-drive GT-R LM Nismo (the less said about that the better) and there were rumours flying around about all sorts of manufacturers possibly entering. The WEC was going to get as big as F1, they said.

Fast-forward to this year and there was a worry there might not even be an LMP1 category at all in the future. Dieselgate brought Audi’s programme to an end in 2016 and Porsche followed suit this year. Would Toyota race in a category which has no rivals, which could have lost its status as a ‘World Championship’, and for which any failure to win would likely come with a huge amount of negative publicity?

Toyota missed out on both titles to Porsche this year despite winning more races
Toyota missed out on both titles to Porsche this year despite winning more…

Thankfully, a whole host of new privateer teams have joined LMP1 for the 2018/19 ‘super season’ (which starts in May next year and ends with the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours) and - after liking what it sees with next year’s regulations - Toyota has indeed confirmed that it’s going to be sticking around.

Future rules have also hinted at moving towards having LMP1 cars which look more like road cars, harking back to the halcyon days of GT1 in the late 1990s which brought us legendary motors like the Toyota GT-One, Mercedes CLK-GTR and Porsche 911 GT1, which apparently is something that Toyota likes very much.

More positives include the chance of finally winning Le Mans. Toyota has come unbelievably close on multiple occasions (like in 2016 when the lead car broke down on the last lap) without ever actually winning it and it’ll be a curse it’s keen to break. Another person desperate to win Le Mans is Fernando Alonso, who’s persistently rumoured to be joining the team for a few races (he’s already tested for them) in his pursuit of motorsport’s triple crown. The Indy 500 enjoyed a massive boost in publicity when he raced there this year, so why wouldn’t Toyota want a slice of that too?

Fernando Alonso tested for Toyota in Bahrain last month and could drive most of the season for Toyota - if rumours are to be believed, anyway...
Fernando Alonso tested for Toyota in Bahrain last month and could drive…

So, it’s mostly good for Toyota, but good for Toyota doesn’t necessarily mean good for us. No-one likes it when a season is dominated by a single team, and yet that’s exactly what we’re going to be faced with across the eight WEC races of 2018/19.

Yes, there are going to be more LMP1 teams than just Toyota, but they’re all privateers with a fraction of the budget. Yes, rules have been introduced to make the teams with non-hybrid cars (i.e. all the privateers) able to compete in terms of pace with the hybrid cars (i.e. Toyota), but the extra range afforded by the hybrid elements means the Toyotas will be able to go much further on the same amount of fuel - a good thing in any race, but over 24 hours? That’s a serious advantage straight off the bat.

That’s assuming that the cars perform equally in the first place, which given Toyota’s years of experience in LMP1 and the relative lack thereof from manufacturers like Ginetta and BR Engineering (both of which are supplying LMP1 cars to privateer teams next season) make you think it’s likely to be a walkover anyway.

BR Engineering combined with Dallara to build this new prototype for LMP1, but will it (and others) be good enough get anywhere near Toyota?
BR Engineering combined with Dallara to build this new prototype for LMP1,…

Could we see Toyota winning every single race in the 2018/19 season? The short answer is yes, Le Mans curse notwithstanding. The WEC does have three other classes, all of which are very close and incredibly entertaining, but as the top category LMP1 is always going to be the main focus.

Of course, there are plenty of factors that could cost Toyota, such as reliability and accidents, but the way things have gone over the last few years that seems highly unlikely - especially as, with no real rivals, the team don’t have to push 100 per cent of the time, all the time.

It seems obvious to suggest that Toyota will be wanting to win every race. But it’s not just because they’re competitors driven to succeed - it’s because - with the competition there’s likely to be - they simply can’t afford to lose.

Comments

eXoZGaming

dammit porsche, why did you have to go

12/21/2017 - 17:10 |
6 | 0
Anonymous

With lemans being lemans its not always that simple. Yes on paper toyota looks like it has an advantage but paper isnt the track. Its only over when the car crosses the finish line. Toyota should know this better then anyone right now. Also being a manufacturer team doesnt automatically mean you’re better then the privateers. Look at kremer and rondeau.

12/21/2017 - 17:32 |
8 | 1
Anonymous

Seeing how bad Le Mans was for them in the past two years, I think they deserve to win every race.

12/21/2017 - 17:33 |
23 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

If they do not give up trying!!!

12/24/2017 - 00:35 |
0 | 0
DL🏁

I’m more excited about the fact that race cars will have to be closer to road cars.
IMO I’d rather the race cars are slower but are more likely to inspire great road cars. I would love if they had to homologate by creating road cars based on the race cars and create more crazy machines like the Mercedes CLK-GTR and Porsche GT1. After all, one of the best things about any kind of motorsport is when motorsport technology finds its way to road-legal cars.

12/21/2017 - 18:09 |
58 | 1

I know but I wish for no regulation motorsport. Imagine the speed….
But ye I agree with you

12/22/2017 - 14:19 |
2 | 0
TheMindGarage

It’s a shame that there won’t be as much competition, but if there’s even the slightest chance we’ll see a return to late-90s-style cars, I’m a happy man.

12/21/2017 - 18:35 |
1 | 0
Lucas Tekkan

Glafly they will be the 2nd japanese brand to win
le mans

12/21/2017 - 19:33 |
0 | 0
TheBagel

I’m just going to point out that if cars are gonna start going back to the GT1 era, I’m going to be pulling a lot of all nighters.

12/21/2017 - 19:46 |
3 | 0
Anonymous

Takumi of WEC

12/21/2017 - 20:33 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

Where is the GTR LM ?

12/22/2017 - 00:15 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Probably on a scrapyard with other useless pieces of imaginative junk

12/22/2017 - 00:42 |
2 | 3
Wogmidget

Every race except Le Mans . . .

12/22/2017 - 02:23 |
0 | 0

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