A day after Peugeot announces its withdrawal from Le Mans Endurance racing in 2012, Toyota tweets first pictures of its new hybrid LMP1 car.

Or maybe that’s just a coincident. This superb race car is the tool by which Toyota makes a comeback to Le Mans 24 hours and FIA World Endurance Championship. They have been absent since the 90s, but now it seems like the right time to return.

So Audi’s happiness from Peugeot’s decision was not long-lived. That said, the only way Toyota is going to beat Audi is if their car is more fuel efficient, which it probably is, since it’s a hybrid. Hopefully that will result in more exciting races for us to watch.

Technical details of Toyota’s hybrid LMP1 are yet to be released, but its chassis and engine are engineered and built by Toyota in Japan.