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In modern endurance racing, Toyota is a force of nature. They are reigning WEC champions, having won their 5th championship in a row in 2023, and despite a surprise victory by Ferrari at Le Mans last year, Toyota remains one of the most decorated manufacturers to have competed in Sarthe, having won the event 5 times in a row from 2018 to 2022. But things weren’t always so rosy for the Japanese giant.
Written by: Fred Knight
Edited by: JD Minny ( ‪@jdminny‬ )
Sources: drive.google.c...
Follow me on Twitter (X): / _automobilistic
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#racing #cars #lemans

[@automobilistic]

Thanks to Opera for sponsoring this video, you can try Opera web browser for FREE here: opr.as/Opera-browser-Automobilistic-2 (advert)

[@briskoschneider4510]

Good looking interface

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@briskoschneider4510i remembered a lot that Toyota GT ONE 1998 and 1999 are equally OP like GR010.

[@wendigockel]

Opera... Oh no!

[@xr.spedtech]

How they make money after giving everything for free.

[@vitaobatera]

Meh, they won 5 in a row running alone. They were miles of with Audi and Porche.

[@aojracing4885]

Toyota often gets criticized for having only won Le Mans without competition and some may roll their eyes at their current domination, but during some of the lowest moments of the WSC and later WEC they kept racing while so many manufacturers were quick to pack their bags and leave. They committed to the late Group C rules while everyone was leaving, then immediately looked for a way to race GTs, and after their unsuccessful run at F1 they returned and kept LMP1 alive for as long as they could before being one of the first teams to commit to hypercar regs. Massive respect.

[@bmstylee]

You can say the same about Audi to a certain extent. Prior to Porsche and Toyota coming in you really didn't have much competition. Peugeot with the 908 and Pescarolo weren't exactly threatening the R8, 10, etc.

[@robertbearden785]

@@bmstyleewas going to say the same thing

[@frylucas]

@@bmstylee Hell, people rolls eyes and claim Toyota victories at Le Mans are "pointless", but Audi dominated Le Mans for more than a decade, it got to a point it wasn't even fun to watch the damn race because everyone *knew* which car was going to win. I'm a Mazda guy, one that got used to the argument that our win at Le Mans "was just a fluke and not a merit", but I have massive respect for Toyota for never giving up, they got so many crushing defeats at Le Mans, I feel like these 5 wins in a row was fate itself apologizing for teasing, playing with and defeating them so badly. Toyota's commitment to motorsport is something people don't respect enough, and a lot of that comes from the childish belief that a company that builds "every day cars" can't beat "prestigious" brands in their own little elitist game, and I'm frankly tired of this.

[@williamford9564]

The criticism is valid. When Porsche and Audi were in the WEC and LeMans in the mid 2010s, Toyota never beat them. When the others left ( for valid reasons), all Toyota had left to compete with were non manufacturer based privateers. The regulations also effectively neutered non hybrids, further handicapping the competition. Toyota was racing against themselves, as long as one of their cars finished a race.

[@robertbearden785]

@@williamford9564 toyota literally won the championship in 2014 winning a few races in the process against them so saying Toyota never won against them is false

[@TopCarsTV]

Something about hearing those background GranTurismo songs just makes me smile. Great vid by the way.

[@automobilistic]

can't beat classic GT!

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@automobilistici also miss all the classic LMGTP and LMGT1 cars from Test Drive Le Mans like the ones you mentioned plus Courage Motorsport LMP1, BMW V12 LMR LMP1, Phillipe Gache Motorsport LMP1, Larbre Competition LMGT2, and Cirtek Porsche LMGT1...

[@ritarossweisse_]

OMG @TopCarsTV you're here too!! Wow

[@bigfootproductions749]

@@automobilisticgotta love the Lance Hayes as well

[@GrinXpedia]

Toyota is the literal embodiment of *NEVER GIVE UP* in endurance racing and they deserve full respect for that

[@purwantiallan5089]

Toyota should got all the respect for sure.

[@Yosh1az]

When everyone left, they were the ones who kept the LMP1 alive until other manufacturers arrived to compete in a whole new class, the LMH class.

[@Marcoz588]

Wish they’d return to F1 though… Their liveries were always simple yet lovely, and by the end of their tenure, they came so close to a championship winning machine! 😭

[@Edelweiss1102]

I feel like their endurance racing commitment deserves way more respect. Despite never reaching the success they hoped for, they stayed around for the final dying days of Group C while others left or jumped to F1, they built a dedicated car for its direct successor series and immediately jumped into GT racing once that didn't plan out. They came back with a dedicated car in 1998 and 1999 and only left for good after one brutal final blow. And they came back after their F1 adventures didn't bear much fruit either and practically kept the LMP1 class alive for its final years and were one of the first to commit to the new and experimental Hypercar series. The only other manufacturer who can claim a similar endurance is Audi in the early 2000s and then again in the early 2010ns. It's always easy to come in when spirit and money are high and leave again as soon as they go down.

[@garchompy_1561]

the followup of this story about the 2010s toyotas LMP1 and the current LMH cars better be called "Try, Try again."

[@sandasturner9529]

Indeed

[@nathanstroud2223]

"I try already, so try yourself."

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@nathanstroud2223Setsuna Yuki got the message.

[@martron7]

I've been to the toyota gazoo racing museum in cologne, where Toyota allows outsiders to visit their racing museum from time to to time(very rarely) and stood next to one of the TS010, the street homologation and one of the Racing GT1/LMGTP TS020, and one of the Le Mans winning GR010, and was even allowed to hold the original Le Mans winning steering wheel, as well as a few F1 steering wheels. It was beyond amazing, and we basically overstayed for over one and a half hours, in part because the tour guide was super exited and knowledgeable about every little detail. I kinda started that by asking the question if all TS020 had been converted to LMGTP regulations or if they kept at least one TS020 in 1998 GT1 spec, and we discussed in details which car had what problem, for example the TS010 was too thirsty to be able to go fast for the entirety of Le Mans. And no, the TS020 had been used as testbeds for countless technologies and improvements, so basically they wouldn't even pass homologation for the 1999 race. It was a amazing time and I'd love to go again. Also, thanks for talking (at least a little bit) about the SARD MC8 Le Mans car, appreciate you keeping my request in mind. Keep it up, you're nailing your style and it's really fun to watch and listen to you talk about some of my favorite cars. Also, nice Haircut, looks good on ya.

[@purwantiallan5089]

There is also TS030 Hybrid 2012 (DLC Car in GT6).

[@maza19]

I like how all these Japanese Group C cars were unsuccessful outside Japan but Gran Turismo games made them look dominant. The same goes with other Japanese cars too

[@perokuzmanovic5190]

exactly, damn as a child i played gt4 every day, and back in the day i thought the konica minolta toyota in gt4 was a monster of a racecar.. this video breaks my heart in some kind of way, because those cars are litterally my childhood.

[@AbrahamArthemius]

On the other hand, the story is far rosier for their American counterpart in IMSA with Toyota had a successful & dominant run with the Celica GTO. Then there's something i like to call "The Big White Brick" a.k.a the AAR Eagle Mk.III which was so overwhelmingly dominant in IMSA and continued to do so even after Jaguar entered the series. It effectively killed the class. It won 21 of 27 races they entered (14 of them are consecutive), won Daytona 24H 3 times, and held Daytona's track record for nearly 26 years until finally beaten by a modern DPi machinery (Mazda RT24-P)

[@yracpontiferous4846]

The Celica GTO was fairly dominant in 86 & 87 and the Eagle Mk3 became the most dominant car in IMSA’s history by 93.

[@AbrahamArthemius]

True, their American counterpart was actually really successful back then.

[@DannySB991]

The GT-One is one of those race cars that has always stuck clearly in my mind ever since I first saw it in Gran Turismo as a kid. It looks so so awesome, and even though I don't support Toyota in current WEC, I'll always love that car.

[@JanTonovski]

This was a very enjoyable and informative video! I have stood next to a GT-One at the Sinsheim technik museum and it stunned me how long that car was, even in comparison to a 962C

[@lucasl.5084]

wake up new automobilistic just dropped

[@majorgrub1730]

No I'm going back to bed, he completely forgot the AAR Toyota Eagle and Celica GTO.

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@majorgrub1730Celica GTO? That car seems like its quite rare yet amazing imo.

[@lucasl.5084]

I do wish he got more deep into IMSA and touring cars in general, maybe even pikes peak@@majorgrub1730

[@AbrahamArthemius]

​@@majorgrub1730to be fair, we are just talking about their European hustle. Their Japanese side (JGTC/Super GT) and American side (IMSA) do have a far better fortune across their run. Toyota with TOM's became the most successful team in JGTC/Super GT. While their collaboration with AAR brought out wins upon wins with utter dominance.

[@TheRUBrally]

Once again you made an excellent work, thanks a lot for this video, as a Toyota fan I really appreciated it

[@JohnCharb87]

Just noticed the framed Circuit de la Sarthe track layout in the background. Times have changed. Toyota couldn't keep up with Peugeot. Now Peugeot is being dominated by Toyota Gazoo in FIA WEC. Also interesting note about the sponsor Esso. Stands for English letters "S" and "O" as in Standard Oil. Due to court ruling in the United States it's more commonly know as Exxon.

[@error-code-80154]

Another banger! Keep up the great work ❤

[@alaricbragg7843]

Thank you for this video. I used to think Toyota would never win Le Mans lol.

[@2fast4speed87]

Please more videos on the history of Le Mans. I’m addicted!

[@pedroneves4465]

Something that I suspect will be highlighted in the next video is the importance of Toyota's european racing division, situated in Cologne. They built and operated the GT-One, and would later become the F1's team headquarters until 2009, before adapting the facilities once more for the TS030 program. And they also support the WRC team to boot. Truly one of motorsports best teams and facilities.

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

You might want to go a little further back than the GT1 days, as TTE (Toyota Team Europe) they also won several WRC championships. The Team principal & former rally co- driver Ove Andersson was head of the WRC programme, then the Le Mans programme, then the F1 programme! (Yes Andersson, Dave Richards & Jean Todt have a loooong rivalry/competition across all kinds of motorsport) before Toyota got DQd and then banned from WRC for the turbo restrictor bypass cheat, which really set up their dismal lack of success (Lexus Super GT aside) from 1995 onwards across Indycar, F1, WRC, MotoGP, Le Mans (and even before that, crap Touring Cars!). You name it, Toyota Motor Corp were bad at racing it, for a very long time.

[@danestormfeltz7815]

Excellent video! Now for one on the Nissan R92CP. 😁

[@kujawson]

It seems that no one noticed how deftly you use english... Proficient language usage is one of the most downplayed skills.

[@Scaley_Reptile]

Maybe just no one SAYS it, Hes always been like this, great narrator and natural KZbin content maker.

[@kujawson]

@@Scaley_Reptile I'm quite fresh to this channel. And although I watched all of the automobilistics videos, honestly, only today I was struck by his admirable linguistic skills...

[@RegionalRadioShackManager]

Yes, he is indeed a Chad

[@needfoolthings]

I'm happy about any creator using language deftly. Most use it daftly.

[@MegaBYSON]

come to england, its rather common place, to be well spoken when you gotta be, like at work or giving a presentation or speaker roles

[@iaco.mp4210]

25 minutes video about sportscar racing? Yes please

[@brianbowcutt249]

Not sure if anyone else here corrected you, but Toyota's 2.1L Group C/IMSA GTP/WRC engine was the bespoke racing only 503E (factory Group A touring and Group B/N rally Celica GT-Fours had same 3SGTE as road cars, only with intercooler spray and setup for anti-lag system) which shared nothing with the production 2.0L 3SGTE other than similar design philosophy, layout, and a common ancestor (I believe they had to give it a similar bore/stroke to the actual 3SG for homologation reasons in WRC and called it as such, but none of the factory WRC cars used the production engine or 4WD system even). The common solution to racing a modified road car with an expensive modified high power 3SG that never held up, was to just replace it with a cast-off 503E from some defunct race team that was already setup for 300-500+ hp, and as much as 700+ for qualifying runs. The 503E was physically larger, heavier, obnoxious to mate with any production transaxle, dry sump, had additional oil/coolant channels in the head/block and different deck design, and a sensor/ignition/timing setup closer to the previous 3T engines than 3SG (it's really like some overbuilt pre-production 3SGTE in design, a mix of the two), and naturally lacked provisions for common accessories. Hardly a well documented or cheap turn key solution, but neither is a built dry sump 3SG that just won't stop cooking cylinder 3 no matter what you do. It's exactly what Rod Millen did building his Pike's Peak "Celica," used a 503E with a setup more IMSA GTP than WRC, made it decently responsive with more modern engine/boost control to push around 700hp if memory serves me right. About $8k would get you a complete spare longblock in the early 00's, usually left over from Toyota Team Europe's former operations.

[@dodecahedron1]

the 503E raced under various bullshit 3S designations(3S-GT, 3S-GTM,...) for marketing and homologation purposes

[@ducksauce1290]

You really need to check out the Eagle Mk 3 Toyotas. They were beasts.

[@jadesmith6823]

❤️ the content from Tasmania Australia 🦘🇦🇺

[@matthewgrabowski4531]

Hard work beats talent, every time.

[@mlgordita]

Always love catching automobilistic content when it comes out although now I run on delay due to a new puppy at home 😂

[@markg7834]

Another fantastic racing video. What an effort!

[@gapistan2335]

We all know the ts020 aka the gt-one deserved to win le mans especially in 1999

[@Lego_Huracan_SuperTrofeo]

😂 okay bud

[@Benz2112]

A video on Toyota prototypes in GTP would be a good complement to this video. Like the Electromatic Nissan team, Dan Gurney utilized the Group C Dome built cars for a time, but then went to his house built Eagle chassis, which ended up becoming such a dominant force in the early 90's. If the Eagle came along before the 3.5L rules, it likely would have been competitive at Le Mans.

[@majorgrub1730]

I hate how he just skipped over the AAR Toyota

[@heliogt1961]

the 88c-v is by far my favourite group C car. thank you gran turismo for the memories

[@piuthemagicman]

Another Automobilistic banger, especially interesting for this lover of all automobiles - especially Toyota. Been a fan since your first vids, keep it up. Love your style :) ✌️ Cheers from Finland!

[@fonsvinkunas5618]

Your best work so far! Very informative and entertaining. Also, nice cut.

[@Scaley_Reptile]

Thanks for keeping this era of motorsport alive. I miss these days.. Been watching since your first video and always excited when I see you've uploaded another video. Thanks for your QUALITY work.. right from the start it was quality.. and yes, the Gran Turismo music still works for me too. My name USED to be "fatgoat"... I've actually forgotten what this channel was orignally called... back before we seen your face. Great to see you still uploading.. you're a natural.

[@krivickas]

Great video. Thank you!

[@ShionShinigami]

2016 was tough to swallow. I mean last lap...

[@Prodriver33]

My first car was a MK2 celica supra with all the aero bits a 7M-GE swap with a R154 5spd and LSD rear. It was blue with blue cloth and I loved it even though I couldn’t even drive it till I put in a lower seat rail and racing bucket. Toyota was my jam back in the day till I started rally and ice racing Subaru wagons then it was all Subaru after that. I still have a Toyota but it’s a huge truck lol.

[@adz87]

wow man.. just came across your channel, looking for some motorsport, essay style videos.. your channel perfectly fits what i was looking for. now to get comfy and binge your videos!😉 cheers👍

[@huskiegaming_]

I’m kinda surprised he didn’t talk about the 1994 Le Mans event. Despite Toyota not competing in a full factory effort, SARD had entered a car and was leading the race until about the final hour, where the car had a mechanical issue, which ended up giving the lead to the Dauer 962.

[@FonikosGazmas]

YT did their work for once and Im here early ;)

[@Moshington]

Anyone else here appreciate his rounded corners on the 4:3 footage

[@Leo17453]

Toyota proved multiple times with endurance that they were capable (the ts020 would've won if it weren't for tire failure), and now all their stifled success is coming back

[@mladenpavlenic1273]

Sorry, what about that year they drove against Dauer Porsche at Le mans 1994?

[@aikotachibana1816]

Welcome back dude! Missed your videos over the holidays!

[@gp8666]

why was none of the TRD/AAR collaboration mentioned? it seems weird to leave out one of the most important bits of information out, gtp was under group c regulations which should be more than enough reason to cover them if the japanese series was also covered

[@fishsticks1195]

AAR even ran a 88c that TRD gave them in the 1989 season

[@Ikcatcher]

Every new upload from you makes for great entertainment for my lunch break

[@VACATETHE48]

Failing to mention the bag fumble by SARD in 94 at Le Mans with the 94CV is crazy. It was their first true near miss.

[@VACATETHE48]

It should be noted that Toyota was leading Le Mans in 1994 and 1998 within 90 minutes left in the race, and both times they failed to finish the job.

[@corentinguillon5286]

I remember using a lot the Toyota Group C white and blue Minolta in Gran Turismo 4. It was super fast and had a lot of grip. No idea it wasn't successfull given it was really powerfull in the game. The only car that could keep up was the Mercedes Sauber C9.

[@purwantiallan5089]

The 1982 and 1983 Toyota Group C cars are still as gorgeous as GR010 HYBRID cars.

[@boomshine7]

Minolta, so many GT memories to stay in GT fashion, 22:32 I see 3 GT ones, but the only real one is one the right. ESSO althaway

[@JackAdamCarter]

Automobilistic does it again!! Fantastic!!!

[@pinkiepromise666]

When the video started it felt like a movie, that's how strong your voice is😮😮 Love hearing about the Gt-One bc the road going version is what I used to beat most of Gran Turismo 3 🤣🤣

[@pauloluciomachadodebrito8107]

Your videos are pure gold. Hope one day you do one about toyota late 80's IMSA venture with Dan Gurney

[@alig.20]

Your daily reminder that Toyota was the only manufacturer team between 2018-2022.

[@havenwisner6776]

Dudes videos are so cool I never knew anything about the old endurance series

[@Racers-Setup-Guide]

You should do a video on their involvement in IMSA with AAR

[@bucketslash11]

worth noting, Toyota was not the only manufacturer to use the fuel-tank loophole, Sauber-Mercedes used it too

[@thestranger3530]

Superb work. Very enjoyable to watch, liked and subscribed.

[@MrKebubas]

Like always great video!!

[@lethalityrush105]

minolta toyota carried me in gran turismo 5, made me fall in love with group c and hypercars

[@Whyteeford]

The Minolta 88C-V is THEE car i think of, whenever i think of or play a Grand Turismo game

[@gunlyrics]

Great video as always! And man that hair is fabulous!

[@misteebond]

Youre very talented, after your videos i feel educated and energised. Thank you for being one of my favourite creators 😊

[@d3f4ult_q8]

Incredible work 👏

[@camrsr5463]

that was a great video! well done!

[@iamashd]

Love your work! Informative and entertaining! I try to watch every one of them!! Maybe dial the clicking noise back a bit though.

[@spacedisco612]

There are a couple amazing YT videos of Toyota testing TS010 at Eastern Creek, highly recommended

[@BobGeogeo]

Great video, thanks. One flub: the contemporary Porsche flat 6 in the 1985 962 was 2.6L, not 3.6.

[@automobilistic]

You're absolutely right - unfortunate mistake on my part

[@Starfire_Storm]

People tend to dismiss Toyota's success in the late 2010's to them not having competition. And while it's true, it's not exactly their fault that Volkswagen fumbled the bag so badly, that Audi immediately abandoned the WEC and Porsche followed one year later, leaving Toyota on their own, pretty much singlehandedly avoiding Le Mans to end up having LMP2 as its top class. And props to the WEC for not nerfing the TS050 to the ground so that other cars could keep up like the ALMS did to the Audi R10 in the late 2000's because they had no competition, so they allowed the LMP2 to pose battle by giving them a massive weight advantage.

[@AdamTheMan1993]

People also seem to forget Toyota won the drivers and manufacturers championship in the 2014 WEC beating both Audi and Porsche

[@Starfire_Storm]

@@AdamTheMan1993 Very true, they won 5 out of 8 races that year in the WEC, but because they didn't won at Le Mans, people immediately dismiss Toyota for that year.

[@AdamTheMan1993]

@@Starfire_Storm Exactly, Le Mans is just a 24 hour battle in a long war. Even though Audi won the battle at Le Mans that year it was Toyota that won the WEC war in 2014, same story happened last year with Ferrari winning at Le Mans but Toyota clinched the double in both drivers and manufacturers

[@Starfire_Storm]

@@AdamTheMan1993 It's something that happens surprising often, having Le Mans decide how a certain year was perceived. 2023 is the more recent, and already people are remembering Ferrari winning Le Mans over Toyota dominating the championship. 2014 made Toyota look invisible even though they won the championship. 1998 we had the Porsche 911 GT1-98 being made look like the greatest thing ever, even though it spent the whole year getting destroyed by the Mercedes CLK GTR. And who can forget 1991 and the false myth that was born out of that year's Le Mans. Now the Mazda 787B is massively remembered, but barely anyone remembers the Jaguar XJR-14.

[@luyandamakonese4238]

Love it!! Great video

[@nelsonvelasco5822]

Your back ground looks a lot better. Hair looks good too. ❤ keep doing what you’re doing. Your videos keep getting better and better.

[@BundSama]

Can't wait to see the follow up to this

[@jeremylacroix5517]

OH MY THANK YOU FOR EVEN MENTIONING MC8R THAT CAR IS SO MYSTERIOUS ID LOVE TO KNOW WHAT TOYOTA THOUGHT WAS GOOD USING A TT 1UZ AT LE MANS

[@pigstain7531]

Ok the classic gran turismo music and great race cars content, i had to subscribe !!

[@Mr.Badree]

toyota so cool for making those graphics of their cars

[@kylehewitt3108]

Omg that Gran Turismo music is so nice😢😢

[@JK061996]

18:32 I like how these Toyotas are sponsored by Piero Guidi

[@farhan.a4611]

Can you make a video about renault rs-01.... The first ever turbo charged f1 car

[@Hammerhead547]

If you get a chance, you should look into the story of how toyota created an american off-road endurance racing legend on a shoestring budget that helped them go from a niche truck brand in america too the third most popular truck brand in north america in just six years. Mr Toyoda himself credited their driver Ivan "Iron Man" Stewart and his legendary exploits out on the baja fighting with other legends like walker evans and rod millen for wins during the 500 and 1000 year after year with doing more for the brand in a few years than their entire marketing budget over the previous 15 years.

[@yebo56]

905 was such a pretty car

[@FCT8306onTwoWheels]

Great video and commentary

[@harlyquin]

23:37 did sombody leave a suitcase in the fuel tank?

[@TU_Gaming]

Babe wake up, automobilistic just uploaded.

[@paulreilly3904]

Geoff Lees deserved a Le mans win, shame it never came

[@o.faruksavaf]

Lovely video bro

[@tangwes721]

They finish 5 laps before second place nah that crazy

[@OdyTypeR]

0:35-:055 I love how you bookend your _proper_ suh-LEEK-ah pronunciation with the _correct_ pronunciation 😉

[@Deadsphere]

Now if only they had this same motivation to stay in Formula 1.

[@Bongz187]

Gran Turismo, introduced me to the the GT one

[@ReboyGTR]

*Will you ever do a video on the Audi Quattro?*

[@xavierjuno4572]

I'm pretty sure he already did although I can't remember

[@dragondragonwolf]

I want to see them have another go at F1.

[@michaelbrady9056]

What is the yellow car in the background at 20:06? Is it one of those Belgian cars i can't remember the name of?..

[@the88lundberg]

Nice new haircut, and great vid.

[@exoriz0r]

its hard to believe that a company only known for their reliability has managed to win 7 24h of lemans Again amazing video from automobilistic :)

[@xavierjuno4572]

Well reliability is one of the key ingredients to winning the 24 hours

[@yanholliday8876]

now we need a deep dive into trd's american effort .....mostly because i never understood the eagle protoypes :P was that a sponsor? a joint venture? imsa gtp rules and naming conventions have always confused me...i want to know! the gto celicas were absolute beauties, too.

[@xavierjuno4572]

Ya surprisingly their American division is one of their more consistent branches, in terms of racing success anyway

[@readytogame83]

The minolta is one of my favorite cars 🚗 😍

[@jstewlly4747]

"Dust the car off and try again"

[@Yosh1az]

1990s ACO/FIA regs are so similar to wild west

[@yebo56]

I see quite a bit of Enzo in the GT1

[@lucaswallo8127]

I wish F1 wasnt the most popular. These cars look so much cooler

[@oliverbyrne3209]

Great channel👍