New Toyota LMP1 completes first run

Toyota's new World Endurance Championship challenger ran on schedule for the first time this week.

The new coupe, built to the new-for-2014 LMP1 rulebook, turned its maiden laps on Tuesday morning at Paul Ricard in the hands of Alexander Wurz. The Toyota subsequently completed three days of running with Wurz and Anthony Davidson at the wheel before the end of the closed test this afternoon.

The car, which ran unliveried, came through the shakedown without major problems, according to a spokesman for Toyota Motorsport GmbH.

"It was the best roll-out we have had since we returned to endurance racing in 2012," he said.

The new Toyota follows the nomenclature of its predecessor and will be known as the TS040 Hybrid. The car, which is powered by a normally aspirated V8 engine, incorporates front and rear-axle energy-retrieval systems, which have not previously run together on a TMG-built chassis.

Toyota's development schedule is understood to include tests at the Algarve circuit and Aragon ahead of launch of the car at the end of March on the eve of the official WEC test at Ricard.