#HybridRaceCars

With its main rival at the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans being none other than Audi, Toyota is taking a page from the German automaker’s playbook by documenting its preparation for the endurance classic.

Ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in two weeks time, Toyota debuted its duo of TS030 Hybrid race cars at the famous Circuit de la Sarthe for the first test day, finishing with solid times, but still short of the Audis that have dominated the sport for a decade.

With the recent announcement by Audi that it will enter a hybrid diesel R18 race car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this season, Toyota is not going to have an easy time trying to take the checkered flag.

That said, the Japanese automaker has been rigorously testing its entry, the TS030, a gasoline electric prototype designed to showcase Toyota’s leadership in hybrid technology.

In addition to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Toyota has announced it will also compete with the car in the World Endurance Championship series.

For a behind the scenes look at testing of the TS030 watch the video below:

Toyota has announced its three-man tea of pro racers, who will pilot the brand’s hybrid LMP1 car in the 2012 Le Mans and other races. The list includes former F1 driver and winner of the 2009 24 Hours of Le mans (under Peugeot) Alex Wurz, Team Oreca pilot and last year’s 12 Hours of Sebring winner Nicolas Lapierra and former F1 racer Kaxuki Nakakima.

When Porsche returns to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in search of its 17th overall victory in 2014 the famed German sports car maker could rely on hybrid power to do so admits motorsports boss Hartmut Kristen.

Porsche has announced that it will enter the 911 GT3R Hybrid race car in the famed Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta on October 2nd.

Porsche feels sufficiently confident with the hybrids fuel economy and performance gains that they are interesting in campaigning in the Petit Le Mans, and the ALMS series, should their jaunt at Road Atlanta go well. Since the Automobile Club de ‘Ouest, the sanctioning body that oversees LeMans, hasn’t drawn up any rules for hybrid race cars, the GT3R will go unclassified for now.

Road Atlanta will be the first race in a few series called the LeMans Intercontinental Cup. The GT3R will also appear at the race in Zuhai, China, but hasn’t confirmed that the car will appear at Silverstone for the European round later on.

Gallery: Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid

Hit the jump to read the official press release