Latest news with #KamuiKobayashi
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
F1 cult hero returns to drive more than 10 years since last appearance
For the first time in their Formula 1 history, Haas are running a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) programme this year and invited an F1 driver of yesteryear to get back behind the wheel More than a decade after he last sat in a Formula 1 cockpit, Kamui Kobayashi has relived the experience by taking part in an official team test. Haas have given the Japanese former F1 star a chance to drive one of their racing machines. It marks the first time Kobayashi has driven an F1 car since he last raced in the World Championship in 2014. That was with minnows Caterham, though he previously also represented Toyota and Sauber having begun his career with the former in 2009. But, on Thursday, the 38-year-old got to relive the experience. He took part in a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) event with Haas, driving the VF-23 car that the American team fielded in the 2023 F1 season. Haas posted photos of Kobayashi behind the wheel in the garage before heading out on track at the Circuit Paul Ricard, near Marseille in the south of France. The test was arranged in partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing, Haas' technical partner since the Japanese carmaker's return to F1 last October. Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox! Though Toyota has not competed in F1 since quitting the sport in 2009, its Gazoo Racing division has been highly successful in other motorsport categories including rallying and endurance competitions. Kobayashi has played a key role in the latter success in recent years, as a two-time winner of the World Endurance Championship and a victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021. His achievements in endurance racing far outstrip what he was ever able to do during his time on the F1 grid. Having represented largely uncompetitive teams, he managed just one podium finish for Sauber at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, his home race, where he finished third by impressively holding off Jenson Button in the faster McLaren. Despite that achievement, Kobayashi lost his place on the grid at the end of that 2012 season. He returned with cash-strapped Caterham in 2014, after a year in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), but they were entirely uncompetitive and folded ahead of the 2015 campaign. Kobayashi returned to WEC in 2016 with Toyota and was immediately competitive. Alongside a range of different team-mates over eight seasons, he has finished outside the top three in the championship only once, when he was fifth in 2017, winning the title twice in 2020 and 2021. Since 2021, he has also been team principal of Toyota Gazoo Racing's WEC programme, alongside his duties as a driver. His F1 test on Thursday was the second run by Haas this year, the first having taken place in Jerez, Spain, in January. Behind the wheel were 2025 F1 drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, as well as Toyota Gazoo Racing development driver and Formula 2 racer Ritomo Miyata. Another TGR figure involved at Haas these days is Ryo Hirakawa, who joined from Alpine as a reserve and has driven for the team in first practice at the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix.
The Citizen
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Toyota celebrates 40 years at Le Mans with throwback liveries
Toyota is marking its 40th anniversary at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, and to celebrate this momentous occasion, it will be donning each of its GR010 Hybrids with a special one-off throwback livery! Looking for a new or used Toyota? Find it here with CARmag! Toyota has an impressive lineage of motorsport history to brag about. Across multiple disciplines, the Japanese automaker has seen some impressive success. The 2025 edition of the Le Mans will have a small dollop of nostalgia, as both competing LM Hypercars will feature some throwback liveries that not only nod to the past, but are intended to remind that Toyota is moving into the future with its technological prowess. The #7 car, driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries, wears a reimagined version of the iconic TS020 GT-One livery from the late 90s. If you were a motorsport fan in that era — or a PlayStation 1 kid hooked on Gran Turismo — you'll likely remember the GT One's dramatic silhouette and sweeping red and white paint job. It never clinched victory at Le Mans, but it earned pole position in 1999 and showed what Toyota was capable of at this top flight of motorsport. The new design isn't a copy-paste job; instead, jagged white stripes slash across the GR010's red base, a modern nod to a car that defined Toyota's first serious push for an outright win. Related: Le Mans 2024 – An Experience Bar None The #8 car, meanwhile, takes a different approach. Driven by Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa, it's finished in matte black with a prominent GR logo. It's a cleaner, more corporate look, but one that reflects Toyota's current mission in top-tier endurance racing: Relentless evolution and a refusal to back down. There's even a new 40th anniversary emblem on both cars to remind fans just how long Toyota has been chasing glory at La Sarthe. And it has been a chase. Toyota first entered Le Mans in 1985 with the 85C, a car powered by a modified road-car engine. Since then, the company has started the race 26 times, fielding 61 cars and putting 62 drivers — ranging from F1 stars to endurance regulars — on the grid. The breakthrough came late, with the brand finally taking its first win in 2018. It followed that with victories in 2019 and 2020 using the TS050 HYBRID, then kept the streak alive in the new Hypercar era with wins in 2021 and 2022. Still, the past two years have ended in runner-up finishes. Beyond the liveries and stats, Toyota is also using this year's race to shine a spotlight on its hydrogen tech. While that's still in early development, it signals where the brand—and perhaps endurance racing—is headed. The 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans will be held between June 14 and 15 and marks the 93rd edition of the iconic endurance race at the Circuit de la Sarthe. This year's event will see the return of Aston Martin to the top-tier Hypercar class with their Valkyrie AMR-LMH, their first appearance since 2011. Things are a bit different for 2025, with the introduction of a revamped qualifying format. The new two-day Hyperpole sessions, held on June 11 and 12, will feature elimination rounds across all classes, culminating in a 15-minute shoot-out to determine pole positions. Click here and browse thousands of new and used vehicles here with CARmag! The post Toyota Celebrates 40 Years at Le Mans With Throwback Liveries appeared first on CAR Magazine.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Toyota to mark anniversary of its Le Mans 24 Hours project with special livery
Toyota will mark the 40th anniversary of its first factory-supported assault on the Le Mans 24 Hours with a special livery for this year's edition of the race. The #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar to be driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries in the double-points round of the World Endurance Championship on 14/15 June will run in a colour scheme that pays tribute to the marque's GT-One of the late 1990s. Advertisement The GT-One, originally known as the TS020, was the first Le Mans contender to be developed at the Cologne headquarters of what is now Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, which has masterminded the Japanese manufacturer's current WEC engagement starting in 2012. The livery of the #7 GR010 for Le Mans is inspired by that of the three GT-Ones from the first season of the two-year programme in 1998. A statement from Toyota read: 'Its distinctive red and white livery has been reimagined for the 2025-specification #7 GR010 HYBRID. 'A red base colour is given a dynamic edge by jagged white flashes which speed over the car from front to back and make an unmistakable connection to the TS020.' #28 Toyota Motorsport Toyota GT-One: Martin Brundle, Emmanuel Collard, Eric Hélary #28 Toyota Motorsport Toyota GT-One: Martin Brundle, Emmanuel Collard, Eric Hélary Jean-Philippe Legrand Jean-Philippe Legrand Advertisement The GT-One followed on from a line of Toyota or Toyota-engined machinery that had competed at Le Mans from 1985. Toyota is counting the two-car attack with a pair of Dome 85C Group C chassis powered by a rally-based 2.1-litre turbo engine as its first official engagement at the 24-hour classic. It began a sportscar odyssey clearly aimed at competing at Le Mans two years before with limited support of a project jointly run by Japanese constructor Dome and the TOM'S race team. Two Dome chassis with the turbo engine were fielded domestically in Japan in 1983 and in the Fuji round of the WEC late in the season. Advertisement The first full-factory campaign at Le Mans came in 1987, when the cars were called Toyotas for the first time and the team ran under the Toyota Team TOM'S banner. A Japanese Sigma Group 6 prototype with a Toyota powerplant had raced at Le Mans in 1975, while a Group 5 silhouette racer developed on the Celica shape by TOM'S failed to qualify for the French enduro in 1980. Since 1985 there have been a total of 61 Toyota entries at Le Mans over 26 editions of the race. The marque has won overall five times, taken 18 podiums and claimed eight pole positions. The #8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa will contest Le Mans this year in its regular WEC livery. To read more articles visit our website.
New York Times
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
At Toyota Gazoo Racing, Kamui Kobayashi Is the Boss and a Driver
Kamui Kobayashi has been racing for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the F.I.A. World Endurance Championship for nine years, winning the championship twice. He will be behind the wheel for the team in the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday. And since 2022, he has also been the team principal. While team leaders like Toto Wolff of Mercedes and Christian Horner of Red Bull in Formula 1 came up as drivers, Kobayashi holds a rare dual role on such a high-profile team. 'I was obviously quite surprised as I didn't expect it,' Kobayashi said of being offered the role. 'I'm proud, and I appreciate the opportunity. For sure it's not easy to be doing things together at the same time, but at the end of the day I adjusted and it's gone well. I'm not going to do everything myself, we have a lot of guys at the team. 'I'm still passionate for driving fast cars as much as I can,' he said, joking that he just needs extra time in each day.
