Practically a week after the surprise announcement of Peugeot’s withdrawal from endurance racing, Toyota unveiled the TS030 Hybrid at Paul Ricard (Le Castellet), France, today. Following a ceremony at a hotel in Marseilles on Tuesday evening, the press was at the French circuit this morning to see the new hybrid prototype in action, in the hands of Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima.

The TS030 follows in the footsteps of the TS010 (Group C) and TS020 (GT-One) which raced at Le Mans in the 1990s. It is a petrol/electric hybrid prototype with a 3.4-litre normally-aspirated V8 and a system comprising super-capacitors instead of batteries to store the energy recovered under braking. The chassis was designed by TMG in Köln.

Michelin is a partner of Toyota’s return to endurance racing, and the French tyre company’s ex-F1 manager Pascal Vasselon is the project’s chief. “The car’s two main strengths are its aerodynamics and hybrid system,” he says.

The TS030 Hybrid actually lapped at Le Castellet earlier this month, while its official race debut will be the Spa 6 Hours in Belgium next May. There is a chance that two cars will be entered for Le Mans, and also a possibility that Toyota will add one or two extra races to its programme at the end of the year (Mont Fuji?), before tackling a full World Endurance Championship campaign in 2013.

Alex Wurz, Circuit Paul-Richard, Kazuki Nakajima, Nicolas Lapierre, Toyota, TS030 Hybrid