Hartley’s #8 TR010 HYBRID takes dramatic home victory

TOYOTA RACING fought back to earn victory in the 6 Hours of Fuji and extend its lead in the FIA World Endurance Championship standings after an incident-packed home race.

With just an hour remaining, the TR010 HYBRIDs were out of podium contention after experiencing different setbacks against strong Hypercar competition. But, in front of a 72,326-strong weekend crowd, a bold strategy turned the race on its head, and determined driving earned a tense win.

Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa won the race in their #8 TR010 HYBRID and took the lead in the drivers’ standings with two races remaining in the season. The team’s 10th victory at Fuji stretches its advantage in the manufacturers’ championship to 23 points.

“What an incredible race and home win,” commented Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8). “I’m so happy for Ryō to take the flag at his home race. It’s a really nice feeling that we’re going to enjoy for a while.

“We didn’t have the ultimate pace but with good execution, no mistakes on track, and an amazing strategy at the end, we came away with the home win. Massive thanks for everyone on the team.”

Le Mans winners Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries recovered from their own setbacks to finish eighth and stay in the title battle, in second, 10 points behind their team-mates.

“Winning at Fuji is very important for us so congratulations to the whole team for this victory, and particularly the car #8 crew who did such a strong race,” said Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7). “Everyone worked so hard for this, and we all kept fighting until the very end.

“For our car, it was a bit of a difficult day and I don’t think we had a clean enough race. We were a little bit off the pace generally, so we were always chasing and that defined our day.”

After poor weather caused qualifying to be cancelled, the TR010 HYBRIDs had ground to make up to challenge at the front. The #8 started from eighth with the #7 in 13th when the race began on a damp track. Sébastien quickly made up two positions while Nyck’s race was disrupted by a puncture inside the first half-hour. A promising fightback was then interrupted by a spin due to contact with the #35 Alpine early in the second hour.

The TR010 HYBRIDs battled their way into top six contention during the opening three hours, but the second half started with frustration. Early in the fifth hour, Brendon was pushed into a spin by the #007 Aston Martin at turn one. At the next pit stops soon after, Ryō took the wheel in sixth. Kamui was seventh until a drive-through penalty for speeding under a full course yellow dropped the #7 to 12th.

However, a safety car with 55 minutes to go enabled a bold strategic call from the #8 crew. Engineers correctly anticipated a longer interruption due to barrier repairs, so the #8 was refuelled accordingly, and did not change tyres. Ryō therefore led the race when it resumed with 20 minutes remaining. As the rain fell and under intense pressure, he held off the #36 Alpine and crossed the line 0.591secs ahead. Kamui made up two positions in the final minutes to finish eighth.

The World Championship battle now returns to Europe for the penultimate round of the season, the inaugural 6 Hours of Barcelona on 18 October at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.