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20 Oct 2011, 03:26 (Ref:2974101) | #501 | ||
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Maybe former Toyota F1 drivers will be considered? Mika Salo? Olivier Panis? Cristiano da Matta? Ricardo Zonta? Ralf Schumacher?
I think Panis will be very good choice, given that he is a renowned test driver. Toyota will need to do a lot of that. |
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20 Oct 2011, 04:13 (Ref:2974114) | #502 | |
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20 Oct 2011, 04:21 (Ref:2974116) | #503 | |
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I thought so too (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92349).
Seriously I don't get all these wild suggestions... just because a driver happened to drive for Toyota YEARS ago? For example da Matta, who hasn't even raced a lot recently. |
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20 Oct 2011, 04:41 (Ref:2974121) | #504 | |
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I expect Toyota to bring two cars the first year
I also expect one car to be all Japanese, maybe the Tatsuya Kataoka/Yuji Tachikawa/Daisuke Ito combination that ran for Dome in 2008 The other car could have: - Pedro Lamy - Ricardo Zonta - David Brabham - Jacques Villeneuve - Rinaldo Capello - Christian Klien - Emmanuel Collard All have good prototype experience and good speed Brabham - Lamy - Collard would be my choice. |
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20 Oct 2011, 04:43 (Ref:2974122) | #505 | |
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How about Rafa Matos? He's right up there. just hasbt gotten a chance. i remember his blindingly quick stint in the Michael Shank Racing car at the daytona 24 hour 2 years ago before the car broke.
Last edited by DeutschRenn; 20 Oct 2011 at 05:08. |
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20 Oct 2011, 05:09 (Ref:2974124) | #506 | |
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^ sorry not habst gotten. im mixing english and german. Its been a long tiring day haha.
Has not had |
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20 Oct 2011, 05:34 (Ref:2974128) | #507 | ||
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I think that Zonta, Klien and Lamy might be possible, but the dreams of Villeneuve Nascar-career so we exclude it from even though he has admitted that would compete with the Le Mans 24h race. |
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“Fernando Alonso has revealed that he would like to contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s oldest and most famous sports car race" |
20 Oct 2011, 06:44 (Ref:2974140) | #508 | |||
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Also his being French can help Toyota a lot when they are at Le Mans and dealing with ACO. |
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20 Oct 2011, 06:58 (Ref:2974142) | #509 | |||
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When he says "but for me Le Mans is finished" and especially if he means all LMP racing, all other points become irrelevant, imho. Quote:
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20 Oct 2011, 07:16 (Ref:2974146) | #510 | ||||
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Although being French or having French connections doesnt necessary gauruntee anything-just ask Jack Leconte! |
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Somebody asked if the McLaren F1 was going to be like the Ferrari F40, Gordon Murray replied, "I don't think so, there's no one at McLaren who can weld that badly." |
20 Oct 2011, 09:54 (Ref:2974195) | #511 | |
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Autosport (print) has interviewed Toshiaki Kinosh!ta (president of Toyota Motorsport). It says the program might be a low key affair next year with modest expectations, one car being an serious option and that obviously the goal is not to win Le Mans in 2012 but to learn. Autosport says reasons behind this are the previous failures (LM & F1) and another factor is that the program was supposed to be given a go-ahead in spring but was delayed due the earthquake.
Kinosh!ta says studies started in 2010 (direct quote) and Autosport says that "it is known" that the engine is a version of 3.4L Rebellion one. Hybrid believed to use super-capacitors. In addition to modified Dome S101 it has been tested in a purpose-built Dome complying with the regs (what regs? '10/11?). ps. Kinosh!ta - stupid dirty word checking, replace the ! with i. Last edited by deggis; 20 Oct 2011 at 10:08. |
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20 Oct 2011, 09:55 (Ref:2974196) | #512 | ||
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20 Oct 2011, 10:29 (Ref:2974210) | #513 | ||
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I'm not sure if the stuff about the goal is learning and such is speculation or a quote from Toyota, but how much of that is the truth and how much of that is just Toyota trying to offer a built in excuse if they don't win? I guess it would be pretty obvious if they only have one car, but it is an interesting question. And if it is truly a learning season, how much may change before they actually go all out in 2013-2014 (assuming the program still exists)? And if it is truly expected to be a learning season and not a competitive (as in winning) season, is there any chance they run under the TMG banner for the year to avoid any negative publicity in case things go wrong? They'll get positive publicity for their hybrid system even if they don't win I think so it probably makes sense to run under a normal factory name, but then again, Peugeot and maybe Audi may beat them to the punch as far as winning hybrids go. I guess we'll only really know what is going on when we see what they bring to the track. |
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20 Oct 2011, 11:02 (Ref:2974226) | #514 | |||||
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I find the one car option puzzling because doesn't two cars enable higher rate of learning. 2 x cars, 2 x data etc... Quote:
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Last edited by deggis; 20 Oct 2011 at 11:09. |
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20 Oct 2011, 11:12 (Ref:2974235) | #515 | |
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I agree that the two cars would trump the one in terms of data. I hope that is what we see. Gary Watkins describes this as a more humble return to the fold for Toyota which is probably a decent approach.
Given we know this isn't an all guns blazing approach I'm sure this will factor in to the choice of drivers. Article also speculates that a Spa debut is the most likely in addition to LM and the two Asian WEC rounds. |
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20 Oct 2011, 11:18 (Ref:2974238) | #516 | ||
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There are also expectations from many (I'm guessing) that Toyota will have an Audi or Peugeot type effort from the very start. There are indications that this may not be the case especially if they only have one car (whether at Le Mans or elsewhere). Certainly it may grow into those types of efforts, but it may not be there at the start of 2012. On the other hand, who knows what exactly is going on. We'll have to see what happens. |
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20 Oct 2011, 11:25 (Ref:2974241) | #517 | |||
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Hvil i Fred Allan. (Rest in Peace Allan) |
20 Oct 2011, 11:59 (Ref:2974266) | #518 | |
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20 Oct 2011, 12:27 (Ref:2974284) | #519 | ||
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As Mercedes and Toyota isn't racing against each other in any series, or competitors in the car markets. So if Ralfs racing for Toyota, isn't limiting his DTM effort, then there should be no reason for Mercedes not to let him. It has happened before.
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Hvil i Fred Allan. (Rest in Peace Allan) |
20 Oct 2011, 13:10 (Ref:2974300) | #520 | |
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Not if they race under the Lexus brand name. Anyway, there are plently of good drivers to chose from, so I prefer that Toyota does not pick that over-rated German.
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20 Oct 2011, 13:14 (Ref:2974303) | #521 | |
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20 Oct 2011, 14:14 (Ref:2974324) | #522 | ||
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I agree, never liked the Schumachers. But we must accept him as a possibility. If we like it or not...
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Hvil i Fred Allan. (Rest in Peace Allan) |
20 Oct 2011, 14:21 (Ref:2974330) | #523 | |
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Maybe one or more drivers from Toyota´s Super GT squad, they´ve got 12:
Hiroaki Ishiura Takuto Iguchi Tatsuya Kataoka Seiji Ara Daisuke Ito Kazuya Oshima Andre Lotterer Kazuki Nakajima Yuji Tachikawa Kohei Hirate Juichi Wakisaka Andre Couto Don´t know most Japanese drivers and me thinks Couto has too much of a touringcar background to be involved with a prototype project. Obviously Lotterer is also out. Ara + Nakajima would provide a nice pairing with more than sufficient experience and speed! |
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20 Oct 2011, 14:40 (Ref:2974335) | #524 | |
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20 Oct 2011, 17:57 (Ref:2974409) | #525 | |
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I wonder if Rebellion and the other Lola-Toyota's (if sold) will get the latest spec factory engines to help development. The expected performance improvement, which was mentioned when the factory car was thought to use a 2.0T, could be related to this.
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