Toyota joins the FIA World Endurance Championship

The FIA World Endurance Championship now has Toyota as a full time entrant for 2012. The Japanese carmaker formally registered itself to give WEC promoter Automobile Club de l’Ouest the minimum two manufacturers it requires in LMP1, as agreed with FIA. Normally an Audi vs Peugeot affair, the French company ended its endurance racing programme last month.

“It was originally planned to enter only selected races, which would have fallen short of the number required to be considered a full-time entrant. Due to the unexpected changes faced by the WEC, that plan has been revised,” Toyota said in a statement.

“The circumstances for the championship changed suddenly in the last weeks and Toyota Racing considers it important to work together with the FIA and ACO to establish a successful future for endurance racing. We have done everything we can to show our support and we look forward to an exciting season,” it added.

Toyota’s original plan was to contest individual races on invitational basis. The team has so far announced a single car entry at Spa and two cars for Le Mans 24 Hours in June. It’s not known if this latest development will include more races for the TS030 Hybrid race car. “There is a clear limitation on what we can do budget-wise and resource-wise,” a Toyota Motorsport GmbH spokesman told Autosport.

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