TOYOTA GAZOO Racing suffered an agonising near-miss in the Lone Star Le Mans when a harsh penalty denied it victory in round six of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
The team bounced back from a difficult qualifying by maximising the performance of its GR010 HYBRIDs and implementing a smart tyre strategy – combined with flat-out driving, fast pit stops and a united team effort – to fight for victory.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries fought through the field with a perfect performance and looked set to win. However, a late penalty for a yellow flag incident – which the team’s data indicates was repeated by its direct competitors who went unpunished – changed race result and left the #7 GR010 HYBRID crew second.
World Champions Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa had been set for a top-six finish in the #8 GR010 HYBRID after a similarly strong performance but suffered an incident in the fifth hour and they finished 15th.
“It was a tough day,” commented Hartley. “We started towards the back, but we were coming through the field until Séb made a little mistake, which can happen. The team put in a really impressive performance in a hard situation and I’m really proud of everyone for their work.
“Car #7 drove an amazing race; the strategy, pit stops, everything was top notch today. They would have won without the penalty. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way on car #8 but we will fight back at our home race in Fuji.”
Despite the frustration, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing nevertheless moves into the lead of the manufacturers’ World Championship heading into its home race, the 6 Hours of Fuji, on 15 September, with an 11-point advantage over Porsche.
The team was able to fight at the front thanks to an attacking strategy which took the fight to competitors who had shown quicker pace earlier in the week.
Mike started ninth in the #7 and survived contact on the opening lap to move up the field, including a spectacular overtake on lap eight when he passed two cars in one manoeuvre to take sixth place. Meanwhile, Brendon started from 12th in the #8 and ran there throughout the opening stint.
Mike’s pace moved him into the podium fight and he was sixth, just a few seconds away from third, heading into the first pit stops at the one-hour mark. Nyck and Sébastien resumed the challenge and continued to push hard to improve their positions.
The hot conditions took their toll on some Hypercar rivals and, when Mike returned to the wheel early in the third hour, the #7 was in second thanks to a storming stint from Nyck, with Ryo now eighth. As half distance approached, Mike increased the pace, setting a new fastest lap as he closed on the leading #83 Ferrari.
At half distance, further driver changes saw Nyck and Brendon resume, in second and seventh respectively. Nyck closed to the rear of the leader midway through the fourth hour while Brendon was pushing the #6 Porsche, and he made a brave move to take sixth.
An aggressive strategy call brought the #7 into the pits slightly early at the end of the fourth hour, giving Kamui clear air and a chance to take the lead. That paid off when the #83 emerged from its own pit stop a lap later, two seconds behind Kamui.
After another driver change, Sébastien was defending sixth place on his out lap when he made contact with the #6 Porsche, causing a puncture and earning a 30-second stop-go penalty. The car’s chances were further hampered by another penalty for not respecting blue flags and Sébastien resumed in 15th.
After a final pit stop, Kamui was comfortably clear at the front until, with 40 minutes remaining, a race-deciding drive-through penalty – when stewards judged he did not respond appropriately to a yellow flag –dropped him to second, nine seconds behind the #83 Ferrari.
Kamui pushed hard to recover the time lost, not helped by a full course yellow, but fell just short and he crossed the line in second, just 1.780secs behind the winning #83 Ferrari. Meanwhile, Ryo brought the #8 home in 15th in front of more than 65,000 fans.
Lone Star Le Mans – Result
1st #83 AF Corse (Kubica/Shwartzman/Ye) 183 laps
2nd #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.780secs
3rd #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) +26.282secs
4th #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn) +46.924secs
5th #35 Alpine Endurance Team (Chatin/Habsburg/Milesi)+1min 10.513secs
6th #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) +1min 36.873secs
15th #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +2 laps
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