TOYOTA GAZOO Racing moved a significant step closer to the opening race of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season with the official Prologue test at Lusail International Circuit in Qatar.
The 2024 Hypercar field, which at 19 cars is the biggest ever, lined up together for the first time at the two-day Prologue event. The GR010 HYBRIDs shared the track with new rivals Alpine, BMW, Isotta Fraschini and Lamborghini, as well as established competitors Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot and Porsche.
The World Champions completed 11 hours of testing over two days, focusing on adjusting the set-up of the GR010 HYBRIDs in readiness for Saturday’s Qatar 1812km, which kicks off an eight-race 2024 season. The team completed a combined 571 laps, 3093km after two trouble-free days.
With tyre comparisons and analysis of different settings the primary focus, single lap times were not a priority. Nevertheless, following this first experience of the latest Hypercar Balance of Performance, the team expects a challenging week ahead as it aims to extend its three-race winning streak, which began in Monza last July.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries were 13th overall in their #7 GR010 HYBRID, the car’s quickest lap coming from Nyck in the third test. Reigning World Champions Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, in the #8 GR010 HYBRID, were 15th fastest following Brendon’s best lap in the fourth session.
“It has been amazing to see so many Hypercars on track together, some old competitors and some new,” commented Hartley. “It is a spectacular sight, and it also means we are expecting an even bigger challenge. We didn’t have any issues on the car, but we still have work to do in terms of pace to get to the level we expect. Together with our engineers, the drivers will be busy over the next 24 hours.”
The Prologue began two days later than scheduled due to logistics issues which delayed some teams’ cars and equipment. Competitors were permitted to participate in three of the four sessions, and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing opted to skip the first test, when track conditions were at their worst.
Therefore, at 6pm local time on Monday, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing officially began its 2024 season when Mike and Brendon took to the track for their first laps of the Prologue.
The five-hour session provided plenty of time for the drivers and engineers to reacquaint themselves with the 5.418km Lusail International Circuit and build on the experience gained during a two-day test there in November.
Starting shortly after sunset, the action took place under floodlights as the two GR010 HYBRIDs began an extensive programme of mechanical and aerodynamic set-up assessments, and analysis of the Michelin tyre compounds.
That work continued in bright sunshine on Tuesday morning, on a hotter day with less wind compared to the opening session. The team used the first three hours to good effect, not only following up the set-up analysis from Monday’s first test, but also using the chance to practice pit stop procedures as well.
Track temperatures rose above 35°C, the highest so far, late in the morning session and they remained high for the concluding three-hour test in the afternoon, enabling further analysis of tyre performance and durability.
With data from 11 hours of testing available, the team will take on the challenge and make full use of Wednesday to rebuild the GR010 HYBRIDs and optimise car set-ups before free practice begins with two 90-minute sessions on Thursday afternoon.
Prologue Test 1
1st #12 Hertz Team JOTA (Stevens/Ilott/Nato) 1min 41.822secs, 58 laps
2nd #38 Hertz Team JOTA (Button/Hanson/Rasmussen) +1.384secs, 61 laps
3rd #11 Isotta Fraschini (Serravalle/Bennett/Vernay) +4.106secs, 22 laps
4th #59 United Autosports (Cottingham/Costa/Saucy) +14.761secs, 57 laps
5th #81 TF Sport (Von Rompuy/Andrade/Eastwood) +14.812secs, 53 laps
6th #95 United Autosports (Caygill/Pino/Sato) +14.857secs, 39 laps
Prologue Test 2
1st #12 Hertz Team JOTA (Stevens/Ilott/Nato) 1min 40.541secs, 123 laps
2nd #50 AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) +0.132secs, 113 laps
3rd #38 Hertz Team JOTA (Button/Hanson/Rasmussen) +0.409sec, 124 laps
4th #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi) +0.485secs, 127 laps
5th #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn/Bourdais) +0.655secs, 106 laps
6th #83 AF Corse (Kubica/Shwartzman/Ye) +0.924secs, 119 laps
13th #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.911secs, 138 laps
16th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +2.195secs, 127 laps
Prologue Test 3
1st #5 Porsche Penske (Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki) 1min 41.223secs, 70 laps
2nd #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies (Di Resta/Duval/Vandoorne) +0.037secs, 65 laps
3rd #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) +0.197secs, 65 laps
4th #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies (Jensen/Müller/Vergne) +0.399secs, 82 laps
5th #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn/Bourdais) +0.429secs, 78 laps
6th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.566secs, 75 laps
14th #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.473secs, 84 laps
Prologue Test 4
1st #5 Porsche Penske (Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki), 1min 40.404secs, 46 laps
2nd #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn/Bourdais) +0.054secs, 65 laps
3rd #83 AF Corse (Kubica/Shwartzman/Ye) +0.345secs, 75 laps
4th #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi) +0.522secs, 84 laps
5th #50 AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) +0.564secs, 77 laps
6th #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) +0.632secs, 58 laps
12th #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.693secs, 69 laps
13th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.834secs, 78 laps
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