Chapter 2.- First races
The first race with the SRC Toyota TS050 Hybrid was full of unknowns. After the tests, our cars had improved, but were still 2-3 tenths off the times we had set as reference.
It was the first endurance test after the pandemic and there was excitement… Also, some nerves. The stage, the SUPERDOME in Igualada. For the occasion, the organizers had expanded the usual circuits, and the route was large and very fast.
The LMP grid did not have many entrants (perhaps there was a certain lack of enthusiasm in the category) but the GTs were in the majority, and as the regulations were drawn up they could even have a chance of winning.
We faced the race with some variations with respect to the production model, logically, although not many; the engine as per regulations, some ballast to comply with the 15gr bodywork, wide rims at the rear, low profile “zero-grip” tyres on the front axle, a standard lateral suspension configuration, rear magnets type slot.it, as well as the gear ratio; in these two cases, I found it more practical to go with what was known and already tested, as well as with the braids, which I replaced with those I trust in endurance races.
In training, after the first few stages in which, due to the lack of grip, the GTs were the ones that marked the best times, and for a few moments it seemed that there could be a surprise, little by little the LMPs imposed themselves and it was confirmed that they were going to be the candidates for victory.
Our main rivals were the other SRC team, the one from Asturias, with Javi and Sergio at the helm, and with Toyota of course, who had been developing the car for even longer than us. The other team was ARREPLEGATS, one of the best Catalan teams, with one of the benchmark models in the category up to now, a Lola LMP with an offset bedplate, of course.
From the start, the two Toyotas took the lead, with the Asturian ahead, as they had opted for a more aggressive start configuration (lower), whereas we, going higher, could not get close to their times. ARREPLEGATS, with some problems, was delayed from the start. As the car gained grip, we began to set the best times that put us in the lead, and we would not give up until the end, without any setbacks. A complete success, with a double in the debut of the SRC Toyota. It is true that there was a lack of competition, but the sensations were very good, and the result was much better than expected, taking into account that it was phase 1 of the project.
LObviously, the result helped a lot to continue believing in this. Both in the factory and in the 2 SRC teams, the excitement of expecting good results went from optimism that these were really possible and that the objectives could be very ambitious; the work carried out until then was beginning to bear fruit.
The next test was not planned. In December we were invited to the 12H of “Murcislot”, in Murcia, of course, one of the classic endurance tests that are held in Spain and which I had never attended. It was clear that we would have to face it with the Toyotas, and do it on a different surface to the one we had done for the “tests” and the first race; on the Ninco track. A selective and bumpy layout, as is usual on this type of track. Would the Toyota be up to the task again?
Our hosts, the boys from Elda, Jose, Edu and Abel, with whom we were going to share a team, did not hesitate for a moment to accept the challenge of racing with the Toyota.
I adapted some cars to the characteristics of the Ninco track, especially with softer suspensions, but to my surprise, the best times in practice were set with the same Toyota that won the first race. The car had behaved wonderfully on the flat and rigid surface of the “Scaleauto” track, but would it do the same on a track with more “grip” and more of a magnet effect?
The test also had another incentive and that was that half of the race was going to be carried out as a night stage, that is, with lights, so it would be another test for our car.
In the race, after a few initial tests, we had no rivals, and the Toyota once again proved to be far superior to the other models, which, in the hands of the home teams, were extremely fast, most of them with 3D chassis, including some Toyotas.
It is worth mentioning that our car even suffered a small incident, near the end of the race, when a control error by one of my teammates caused the car to fly off at the end of the straight, with a very strong impact against the fence. The result was a cracked windscreen and a bent rim. It was clear that the Toyota had passed its first crash test and the car was proving to be very resistant.
At this race we had the pleasure of meeting Marco and Dovile from SRC in person, who came to see “in situ” how “their” Toyota performed on the track, and if the impressions through telephone conversations were already very good, in person they were no less so.
Two overwhelming victories in the first two endurance races made us look very optimistically at the season that was about to begin.
Continuará….
Joseph M.ª Molins “NEO”
