The Lexus CT hatchback made its race debut at the legendary Nürburgring circuit over the weekend. Prepped by Toyota’s racing partner Gazoo Racing, the same people responsible for racing the Lexus LFA, the CT competed in the Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy, racing for over six hours on the world’s most demanding circuit and finishing in 108th place from 127 finishers. Almost 200 cars took part.
The Gazoo Racing CT driver line-up features three experienced pilots: Kumi Sato, a female racer who competed in a Lexus IS 250 in 2008; Masahiko Kageyama, who previously supported Toyota’s vehicle development programme; and Minoru Takaki, who is responsible for production vehicle development.
Competing in the SP4 Class, the race car, like the road going CT 200h, features Lexus Hybrid Drive, but with a higher capacity 2.4-litre petrol engine instead of the usual 1.8L unit. The batteries and hybrid system are identical to the road car. Lexus says that the Racing CT requires less fuel and emits less emissions than any petrol or diesel race car.
Racing with a full hybrid car isn’t new to Lexus though – they raced an RX 400h in the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2005.
© 2011 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.
This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Wed, 18 May 11 00:31:45 +0000.
Related posts:
- Lexus LFA Nürburgring Package to debut in Geneva
- Lexus LFA to compete in Nürburgring 24 Hours
- Limited edition GAZOO Racing Toyota iQ
- Lexus LF-A gets Nürburgring package – only 50 cars!
Link to full article
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét