TOYOTA CLAIMED A FOURTH Le Mans 24 Hours victory in a row in year one of the new era for sports car racing last August. The opposition for its pair of Le Mans Hypercars is the same this time around – two LMHs from Glickenhaus and one old-style LMP1 from Alpine – but it would be wrong to think that the Japanese manufacturer is shooting fish in a barrel as the only major manufacturer on the grid. The rules of engagement in the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship have changed this season.
These changes have robbed the Japanese manufacturer’s GR010 Hybrid of one its key weapons. The speed at which the hybrid LMH contenders such as the Toyota can deploy electric power through the front wheels is now part of the system of Balance of Performance, the means by which the different cars are equalised, rather than laid down in the technical regulations. That resulted in an increase in that speed from 120kph (75mph) in the dry and 150kph (93mph) in the wet last year to 190kph (118mph) in all conditions at the opening round of the 2022 WEC at Sebring in March.
That doesn’t mean the hybrid deployment
