In 2012, Toyota TS030 Hybrid participated for the first time at the 6 Hours of Silverstone: here is an opportunity to look back in time and discover how the Japanese team prepared for this race.

Last year, the prestigious British event took place on the 26th of August, two months after the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In this year 2013, the World Championship calendar of the FIA ​​Endurance has been slightly modified, placing the 6 Hours of Silverstone two and a half months before Le Mans race. In 2012, building on the experience and promises 24 hours, where the Japanese team briefly led early in the race before being forced to retire.

Used by major manufacturers, simulators are found in aerospace, defense and automotive development, allowing the faithful reproducion of behavior, in extreme situations, or to develop a model before marketing. The one developed by Toyota offers a menu of several circuits, which allows drivers to learn new tracks ahead of time. Thus, in 2012, Alexander Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre used this method to learn the 5.9 km and eighteen corners of the Silverstone circuit. During the race, they finished second overall behind the winning Audi of Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer.

Toyota last year entered just one car but this year a second crew will be on the grid: it will be driven by Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Stéphane Sarrazin, who drove the second TS030 Hybrid in the the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2012. The team aim to dethrone Audi from their domination of endurance racing.

In this video Nicolas Lapierre drives the Toyota - TMG simulator during a training session in 2012 on the Silverstone circuit reproduced identically in 3D.

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Thierry Arman - ACO