TOYOTA GAZOO Racing was back on track at the Lusail International Circuit for the opening practice sessions for the Qatar 1812 KM, the first round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
The team faces a challenging start to the defence of its World Championship titles on a track that does not suit the characteristics of the GR010 HYBRID Hypercars, which must adapt to additional Balance of Performance weight for this event.
Nevertheless, drivers, engineers and mechanics are united to take on the challenge and worked hard over two 90-minute practice sessions to optimise car set-ups in preparation for Saturday’s 10-hour race.
After a day of intensive preparations, the #7 car of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries set the quickest GR010 HYBRID lap of the day for eighth overall. World Champions Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa were 13th in their #8 GR010 HYBRID.
“It was a relatively smooth day, with no real issues,” commented Hartley. “We have made a few steps in the right direction and we are close to optimum for the package we have. We are still lacking some pace, particularly on one lap, so now our focus is on coming together as a team to put everything in place and achieve the maximum result. We will try to maximise our performance.”
First practice began shortly after midday local time on another hot, sunny and windy day at the Lusail International Circuit, and both GR010 HYBRIDs immediately hit the track to begin an intense programme of preparation for Saturday’s race.
After 11 hours of running on Monday and Tuesday during the official Prologue test, engineers and drivers spent Wednesday optimising set-up options to meet the challenge faced by the team this week. In first practice, the team analysed control systems and mechanical set-ups in the search for improvements.
Three short red flag periods interrupted the 90 minutes but the GR010 HYBRIDs nevertheless completed a constructive session. Kamui and Mike shared the wheel of the #7, and Kamui set the car’s fastest lap, eighth overall. The #8 crew split driving duties between all three drivers and ended up 12th, after Brendon’s best lap.
Second practice took place in cooler conditions under lights and provided another opportunity to analyse the medium and hard Michelin tyres available in Qatar. An early red flag disrupted running on new tyres but the team soon resumed with longer stints until, with 10 minutes to go, a second red flag ended the session early.
Both cars showed improved performance over longer stints, although the timesheets reflected only one-lap pace. Nyck completed the majority of laps in the #7 and set its fastest lap early in the session, eighth fastest at the end. In the #8, Sébastien spent longest behind the wheel and set its fastest lap, 13th overall.
The team now prepares for a final, one-hour practice session late morning local time on Friday before taking on a new qualifying format. All 19 Hypercars will participate in qualifying (16.20 local time, 14.20 CET) before the top 10 from that session go head-to-head in a Hyperpole shoot-out for pole position.
Qatar 1812 KM – Free Practice 1
1st #5 Porsche Penske (Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki) 1min 42.486secs 39 laps
2nd #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi) +0.046secs 45 laps
3rd #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) +0.107secs 40 laps
4th #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn/Bourdais) +0.476secs 40 laps
5th #99 Proton Competition (Tincknell/Jani/Andlauer) +0.540secs 32 laps
6th #38 Hertz Team JOTA (Button/Hanson/Rasmussen) +0.613secs 38 laps
8th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.716secs 31 laps
12th #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.041secs 44 laps
Qatar 1812 KM – Free Practice 2
1st #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) 1min 39.990secs 32 laps
2nd #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies (Jensen/Müller/Vergne) +0.782secs 36 laps
3rd #38 Hertz Team JOTA (Button/Hanson/Rasmussen) +0.792secs 32 laps
4th #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn/Bourdais) +0.996secs 37 laps
5th #5 Porsche Penske (Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki) +1.183secs 36 laps
6th #12 Hertz Team JOTA (Stevens/Ilott/Nato) +1.338secs 10 laps
8th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.549secs 36 laps
13th #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +2.118secs 39 laps
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