Toyota 92C-V


The Toyota 92C-V was a racing car built by Toyota as a Group C car, and later as a LMP car. It raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for three years. It also took part in the final year of the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship during the 1992 season.
Although with different names, the same two cars were used at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for three years, and simply updated each year. A third chassis was used for the 1992 All Japan Sports Prototype Championship.

1992

Three cars were entered into the 1992 All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The cars took part in every race. The 92C-V managed 4 top-three finishes out of the 6 races, but could not manage a win.
Two cars were entered into the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the numbers #34 and #35. The cars qualified 11th and 15th overall, respectively. The 92C-Vs were the only cars in the Group C2 class to start the race. Both cars finished. The #34 car finished in 9th place overall. However, the #35 car managed to improve its position to 5th overall. It completed 346 laps, 6 laps behind the winner.

1993

The two cars were entered into the 1993 race. The cars were updated and renamed the Toyota 93C-V. They had the numbers #22 and #25. Roland Ratzenberger driving the #22 car qualified 10th overall, while George Fouché driving the #25 car qualified 12th. Both cars completed the race, with Toyota again achieving a 1-2 finish in the C2 Category; 5th and 6th overall. The #22 car completed 363 laps, 12 laps behind the winning Peugeot 905. The #25 car was a further 5 laps behind.

1994

With the demise of Group C, Toyota further updated the cars and ran them as the Toyota 94C-V under the new LMP1 class for 1994. The two cars were entered with the numbers #1 and #4. Roland Ratzenberger was intended to be one of the drivers for the #1 car. However, he had suffered a fatal accident during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix weekend. Eddie Irvine substituted for Ratzenberger, but Ratzenberger's name was left on the car as a tribute.
Mauro Martini's qualifying lap put the #1 car in 4th on the starting grid, while George Fouché qualified the #4 car into 8th. Both cars finished, and for the third consecutive year, achieved a 1-2 finish in their class. The #1 car finished 2nd overall, 1 lap behind the winner. The #4 car finished 4th overall, 16 laps behind the winner.
The 94C-V also participated in the 1994 1000 km of Suzuka. It retired from the race due to damage caused by an accident.