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The modelcars for the team of Toyota Gazoo Racing now become doubly interesting, because with the win of the eighth and last race of the FIA endurance world championship WEC 2019/20 in Bahrain has been secured by the trio Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José Maria López for the first time. There, however, they pushed their team-mates from Toyota Gazoo Racing into second place. On farewell, the Toyota TS050 Hybrid demonstrated its strengths on the international stage. Conway, Kobayashi and López turned their starting position around in the last race: Starting from pole position, they triumphed in the eight-hour race in Bahrain and won their first major title. Incidentally, the racing drivers also started in this composition in the number 7 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2017: This was also a topic for the modelcars.
Because there is a fantastic triple-set available under item number TY12138NO7 / CK63777, which replicates the Toyota TS050 Hybrid No. 7 Toyota Racing WEC in this very decoration of the race at the Sarthe, version 2017. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobaysashi and José Maria López are with this available in format 1:38; the high quality made modelcars come from the production of Spark. Matching miniatures with starting numbers 8 and 9 are available; currently, as of the editorial deadline of this article, by the way, instead of 104.95 euros for an incredible 35.96 euros! Real collector's models in an unusual scale and in-house packaging, so an absolute must-have for Toyota fans. But of course there are also miniatures in format 1:43 for this team on the Toyota TS050, for example from Spark with the part number TY14143F.
Under the 18S426, this model is also available in the scale 1:18 and also made by Spark from high quality polyurethane cast resin. The link below takes you to these models and those of the series rally winner Yaris. But now back to the final of the Toyota TS050. Outgoing world champions Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima together with Brendon Hartley made the result for Toyota Gazoo Racing perfect. In second place, they were 64.594 seconds behind their team-mates, which was also due to the handicap of the championship leader's success, who slowed the Toyota TS050 Hybrid No. 8 around 0.54 seconds per lap. After the lead climbed to 75 seconds at times, a safety car neutralized all the gaps and guaranteed an exciting final phase.
An impressive balance sheet for the pensioner
But the crew of the racing car with starting number 7 kept their nerve and gradually pulled away again. “Congratulations to the new world champions Mike, Kamui and José. Endurance races are a team sport: The whole team deserves my congratulations for their achievements this season, I am proud of the team spirit and determination,” said team president Hisatake Murata happily: “My thanks also go to the World Cup and race organizers; thanks to their commitment, we were able to bring the season to an end despite the global circumstances. It's an emotional moment: the last race of the LMP1 era and the last for our TS050 Hybrid. We have so many memories from the past eight seasons. We remember exciting races, great competitors and fantastic cars.” In three of the eight seasons, Toyota was both team and driver world champions.
The double victory crowns the LMP1-era on the long distance track, at which Toyota has been participating in since 2012: 29 of 64 races won, 26 pole positions and completed the fastest lap 24 times. Although fuel consumption fell by a whopping 35 percent during this time, times got faster and faster. The lap time at Le Mans has improved by ten seconds, and the Toyota TS050 Hybrid burned the fastest lap of all time into the asphalt of the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe. The 1,000 hp hybrid racing car, which Toyota has raced in 34 races since 2016 and driven by eleven different drivers, won the Le Mans 24 Hours three times. Now the TS050 Hybrid is retiring; Endurance tests are planned for the winter with the new hypercar, which will be used in the 2021 season.
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