Toyota TS040 Hybrid

The Toyota TS040 Hybrid is a Le Mans Prototype 1 sports car that Toyota Motorsport GmbH built and raced in the 2014 and 2015 seasons of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Design work began in November 2012 after the Automobile Club de l'Ouest published its 2014 technical regulations, and the car was an aerodynamic improvement on the TS030 Hybrid, built at Toyota Motorsport in Cologne with the chassis design supervised by engineer Pascal Vasselon. Its design allowed four-wheel drive, and two kinetic energy recovery devices at the front and rear axles charge a supercapacitor in the 6 megajoule class. The 3.7 litre engine was carried over from the TS030 and produced 513 horsepower. In 2014 Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima won the drivers title and Toyota took the manufacturers title at the season-ending race in São Paulo, but in 2015 the car struggled against Audi and Porsche and Toyota finished third. The TS050 Hybrid replaced it in 2016.