TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is ready to fight for a strong result in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, despite a challenging qualifying for the third round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
The #8 GR010 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa was second fastest in the first session but finished seventh in a closely-fought Hyperpole. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries will start the race from 15th in their #7 GR010 HYBRID.
“Qualifying seventh wasn’t the result we wanted but I am proud of our team,” commented Hartley. “We had a really good car on the medium tyre in qualifying. It was a very nice lap, and I was pleased to finish that session in second.
“In Hyperpole we all had to use the soft tyre and I wasn’t as happy with the car. We haven’t used that tyre for a very long time. I was a bit surprised some cars could repeat their lap time from qualifying, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t a clean lap, but in the end, we did all we could. I am happy with how the car felt on the medium tyres so that gives me some confidence heading into the race.”
Despite starting outside the top six, and the strong performance shown by its Hypercar rivals, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is determined to challenge at the front on Saturday, encouraged by Brendon’s strong performance in first qualifying on medium tyres, which are most suited to the high-degradation Spa circuit.
The team, which is on a seven-race winning run at Spa, draws inspiration from its victory in Imola three weeks ago, when smart strategy, faultless driving and quick pit work, overcame a performance deficit and earned its first win of the season.
Qualifying took place on a warm, dry afternoon, and became a session of mixed emotions for the two cars. Brendon topped the times with his first flying lap and finished second to comfortably reach Hyperpole. But Kamui could not find a clean lap until the last moments, when his tyres were past their best, leaving the #7 GR010 HYBRID in 15th.
All 10 cars were obliged to use the soft tyre in Hyperpole, and Brendon was quickly on the pace again, setting his best time of the 12-minute session with his first flying lap. That initially put him on the provisional front row, but as tyre grip faded, other cars improved late in the session and the #8 car slipped to seventh.
With overtaking possible at Spa, and tyre degradation set to be a major challenge, drivers, engineers and mechanics from both cars will fight hard against the 19-strong Hypercar field, to make up positions and earn strong World Championship points from the race, which starts at 1pm on Saturday.
6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – Free Practice 3
1st #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) 2min 04.125secs 22 laps
2nd #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi) +0.215secs 25 laps
3rd #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies (Jensen/Müller) +0.232secs 23 laps
4th #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) +0.249secs 23 laps
5th #15 BMW M Team WRT (Vanthoor/Marciello/Wittmann) +0.340secs 22 laps
6th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.348secs 25 laps
7th #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.386secs 25 laps
6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – Qualifying
1st #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) 2min 02.462secs
2nd #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.124secs
3rd #5 Porsche Penske (Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki) +0.213secs
4th #83 AF Corse (Kubica/Shwartzman/Ye) +0.414secs
5th #35 Alpine Endurance Team (Chatin/Gounon/Milesi) +0.436secs
6th #20 BMW M Team WRT (Van der Linde/Frijns/Rast) +0.455secs
15th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.276secs
6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – Hyperpole
1st #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) 2min 02.600secs
2nd #5 Porsche Penske (Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki) +0.507secs
3rd #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn) +0.515secs
4th #99 Proton Competition (Tinknell/Jani/Andlauer) +0.714secs
5th #12 Hertz Team JOTA (Stevens/Ilott) +0.784secs
6th #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) +0.848secs
7th #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.972.secs
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