Toyota Re-Enters Sports Car Racing

Announces partnership with Rebellion Racing.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88559

BHW

 

toyota let me down three times already. First with abandoning the GT One sports car program which coulda won lemans twice if it wasn't for bad luck, then leaving F1, and lastly investing in NASCAR...YOU'RE OUT!!!

 

I wish they would at least have continued as an engine supplier in F1.

 

I don't understand why they are entering LMP1 instead of racing the LFA.

 

will this be a diesel?

I was just talking to an Fchatter the other day about how fickle Toyota's motorsports involvement is...back to the days of IMSA and SCORE offroad. come in, drop a ton of money for ~5 years, either win a championship or fail miserably, leave.

I wonder if the guys in Daytona Beach have paid attention to that historical trend?

 

Toyota (and to some extent Honda) has a long history of "scorched earth" - e.g., spend a boatload and then get out.

CART is a great example. I wouldn't call it fickle, I'd call it brutally honest marketing.

 

I think Honda has racing in its blood, whereas for Toyota it's more about marketing and ROI.

CART was so absurdly expensive for a while (~1995-2000), no wonder they all left. much like F1 from ~2000-2009...

 

Good question, however diesel unlikely.

Toyota has always been hard to peg in sports cars
but if history tells us anything, usually, where ever
Toyota goes Nissan and Honda/Acura are sure to
follow.

The Japanese always make things interesting at
Le Mans.

BHW

 

Oh I don't disagree - but it's typical of Toyota. They helped drive up the CART costs - they hated the pop-off valves and there were accusations of cheating on their part.

They got their butts handed to them in F1 (until the end), but to be fair, they recognized the ROI sucked. Even if they dominated - there would be nothing to prove, so they would have left anyway.