<< Prev Page 3 of 3 Throughout the 1992 season the full force of the rule change was felt and due to the lack of interest the calendar had already been shortened from ten races to six. During the final race at Magny Cours just eight cars lined up for the start; three Peugeots, two Toyotas, two Spices and one Mazda. It came as no surprise when it was announced that the 1993 World Sportscar Championship was cancelled. The FIA had managed to kill a hugely popular championship within a few years and all this to make sure that Formula 1 remained the pinnacle of motor sport. Their ploy to attract more manufacturers to single seater racing also paid off as within a few years Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot were engine suppliers. A few years later Toyota also joined, but not before having another go at sports car racing.
The end of the World Championship did not terminate the career of the Toyota TS010 just yet. The annual highlight on the sports car calendar was certainly not cancelled and Toyota sent no fewer than five cars to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Three brand new TS010s and two of the old Group C cars now upgraded to 93C-V specification. Needless to say the Peugeots again formed the biggest competition for outright victory. The French team made no mistake and claimed pole and more importantly a commanding 1-2-3 victory. One Toyota retired, while the others finished in fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth. The two 93C-Vs offered some comfort to Toyota by finishing first and second in the C2 class. The 1993 Le Mans was the end of one of the greatest eras of sports car racing and from 1994 onwards Le Mans was disputed by production based GT-cars, rendering the existing Group C cars obsolete.
Toyota did not give up and set about developing an open prototype racer, which was tested but never raced. They returned to Le Mans in 1998 with the hugely impressive TS020 or GT-One and sadly again managed no better than second. Raced for only a season and two races, the TS010 remains as Toyota's most successful Group C racer. Together with the Peugeot 905, the TS010 remains as one of the fastest sports racers ever constructed. They were almost as quick as contemporary Formula 1 cars and on modern rubber should certainly still be able to match the times of the current Le Mans racers. << Prev Page 3 of 3
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Throughout the 1992 season the full force of the rule change was felt and due to the lack of interest the calendar had already been shortened from ten races to six. During the final race at Magny Cours just eight cars lined up for the start; three Peugeots, two Toyotas, two Spices and one Mazda. It came as no surprise when it was announced that the 1993 World Sportscar Championship was cancelled. The FIA had managed to kill a hugely popular championship within a few years and all this to make sure that Formula 1 remained the pinnacle of motor sport. Their ploy to attract more manufacturers to single seater racing also paid off as within a few years Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot were engine suppliers. A few years later Toyota also joined, but not before having another go at sports car racing.