Ahead of the World Endurance Championship's two day Prologue test at Monza, Toyota have become the first LMP1 factory team to officially unveil their challenger for the 2017 season.

Whilst Porsche's contender - another evolution of the successful 919 Hybrid - has been photographed testing at Paul Ricard, the World Champions are yet to officially announce all the details, as they look to claim their third championship win in succession.

TS050 HYBRID "optimised in virtually all areas"

Similarly, the TS050 HYBRID is a revamp of Toyota's 2016 car under the same name, that came within five painstaking minutes of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, despite having a familiar base, the rest of the car has been "optimised in virtually all areas", a statement read.

Toyota came within minutes of their first overall win at Le Mans. | Photo: Gerlack Delissen - Corbis
Toyota came within minutes of their first overall win at Le Mans. | Photo: Gerlach Delissen - Corbis

Due to the new regulation changes, the 2017 editions will carry less downforce than their predecessors, but keep the same raw pace. In order to provide said power, Toyota's 2.4 litre twin-turbo V6 engine, partnered with an 8MJ hybrid system stays - now in it's second year after the Japanese marque turned away from naturally aspirated V8 power plants.

But, despite being the same in concept, the engine features changes in order to further boost its performance, as they try to bring the fight to Porsche after Audi's withdrawal from top level sportscar racing. A new cylinder head and combustion chamber design has been carried out with the idea of increasing compression ratio - meaning more mechanical power.

Furthermore, the 8MJ hybrid system has been made lighter and more refined, after appearing to be a tad rough round the edges upon its introduction.

Speaking about the changes, project leader Histake Murata stated: "The team has worked ceaselessly to develop a powertrain that will deliver performance over once lap and a full race distance," before adding. "The first results are very encouraging, but we will continue to fine tune."

It is expected that Toyota will test a low-downforce configuration at Monza, with a higher downforce version making its debut in the season opening race at Silverstone, on 16 April.

Lopez in, Sarrazin out

Alongside a new car, a new driver line-up was announced at the start of February. In the number seven car, three-times World Touring Car Champion Jose Maria Lopez joins regular fixtures Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi, after several successful tests. The 33-year-old Argentine replaces Stephane Sarrazin.

Citroen's withdrawal from the WTCC gave Lopez the chance to join Toyota. | Photo: Getty Images/Monica Paz/CON
Citroen's withdrawal from the WTCC gave Lopez the chance to join Toyota. | Photo: Getty Images/Monica Paz/CON

The number eight car remains untouched - with Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson remaining for another year at least.

For 2017, Toyota have opted to run a third car at Le Mans and the "warm-up" event at Spa-Francorchamps, the second round of the season. After losing his full-time seat, Sarrazin will be joined by Yuji Kunimoto and former Toyota driver and fellow Frenchman, Nicolas Lapierre.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
James Eagles
Freelance sports journalist. Arsenal, F1 and Andre Lotterer fan.