Toyota Planning Transition To Hydrogen Following Hypercar Ruleset Extension.
Toyota has plans to race both its current GR010 HYBRID Hypercar and its first generation hydrogen-powered prototype during the maiden season for the hydrogen-powered regulations, should the forthcoming technical ruleset be finalised in time for the 2028 season.
Speaking with reporters at São Paulo earlier this month, Toyota Motorsports’ project leader John Litjens shed more light on Toyota’s transition to competing with hydrogen-powered race cars in the FIA WEC.
He explained that the current target for manufacturers developing hydrogen-powered cars to compete in the WEC and Le Mans 24 Hours is a partial season programme in year one (which is currently set for 2028).
As Toyota is already part of the WEC’s top class with its GR010 HYBRID – a car now eligible to compete through the 2029 season following the recent regulation extension – Litjens explained that if it commits to the ruleset then it would likely compete with both cars at the same time, with the current Hypercar running the full season alongside a hydrogen-powered car at selected races.
This is not entirely unheard of in the FIA WEC. Beyond manufacturers fielding cars in both prototype and GT classes, Audi Sport in the 2012 season operated a combination of pure diesel and hybrid-diesel R18s in LMP1. Notably, that year it claimed a 1-2 at Le Mans, with an R18 e-tron quattro leading home an R18 ultra.
Litjens explained when asked about the end game for the GR010 HYBRID in the wake of the two-year regulation extension:
It depends on what the regulations allow us.
“Initially we planned to start the hydrogen car, and with the ACO the target is to do the first season with a couple of races, so not a full season yet.
“So in the end we will run them in parallel and with that we can for sure adjust depending on how the development will go with the hydrogen car.”
As the next-generation regulations that will incorporate hydrogen – which are being put together via regular technical working group meetings – are not currently close to being finalised, many firm decisions are yet to be made, including a final call on which specific technologies will be accepted.
Will both hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen combustion-powered cars be permitted? Will both gas and liquid storage options be allowed? How will pit stops, stint times and target lap times be handled? Will these cars be competing for overall wins before 2030, and will they compete in a class separate from what we now call ‘Hypercar’?
Thierry Bouvet, the ACO’s Director of Competition told reporters at the ACO’s annual press conference in June:
What we want to allow is the possibility for manufacturers to demonstrate their technologies.
“It’s too early for details, we need to draw the big lines.”
Unsurprisingly then, it is not yet confirmed which races (beyond Le Mans) will feature hydrogen cars in the first year of the new ruleset, though reports have emerged that Spa and Fuji are being considered.
“We have to see what the calendar will be,” Litjens said when asked which races are being targeted. “They always mentioned three events in the year and Le Mans was for sure one of them.
“There will be a transition, that’s why they’ve extended the current regulations. It will depend on how good and quick the hydrogen cars are and even the other technologies. I think the next step for the FIA and ACO is to define the second-generation Hypercars and this may not only be hydrogen, but other fuels.
“Let’s see what the new generation will be. In the end, people think we go from the current Hypercars to only hydrogen cars, but I don’t think this will happen. I think what will come is a second generation of LMH. Some manufacturers want hydrogen, but others are focusing on different things, maybe different fuels.
“There’s still a lot to come.”
Litjens also discussed the current ruleset extension and the likelihood of the 2028 hydrogen target being met after a series of delays from the original timeline which aimed for 2026.
“If everything goes well. If we get the regulations in time. (Then 2028 is realistic.),” Litjens said.
“In the end, the extension (to the current rules) has been done to give a bit more time for let’s say the ‘new generation’. And the ‘new generation’ Hypercars can be different technologies like hydrogen. In the end, we will run these cars a bit longer, I don’t think it’s a big problem.”
He confirmed too that Toyota would not develop a new LMH car to the current ruleset to replace the GR010 should hydrogen cars be introduced for 2028. The GR010 is the only car from the Hypercar category’s inaugural season in 2021 still racing, though it has recieved substantial updates since its debut.
“(Developing two cars at the same time) Would be very difficult. That would be two kinds of car. We can think about performance evolution ‘Jokers’ (for the GR010), but to develop two full cars in parallel is not possible.
“What is not discussed yet is whether you also get more development ‘Jokers’ or not. These things normally get discussed in the technical working groups and we didn’t have one after Le Mans, the next one is in September.”
On that final subject, the ACO had previously stated that two additional development performance upgrades, otherwise known as “jokers”, will also be permitted for the 2028 and 2029 seasons.
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Toyota Planning Transition To Hydrogen Following Hypercar Ruleset Extension. source
