Tag: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Evans back to winning ways with WRC Rally Croatia dominance

Elfyn Evans stormed to victory at Rally Croatia on Sunday afternoon, moving the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver to the top of the FIA World Rally Championship standings in the process. An error from Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville on Saturday morning had …

Elfyn Evans stormed to victory at Rally Croatia on Sunday afternoon, moving the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver to the top of the FIA World Rally Championship standings in the process.

An error from Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville on Saturday morning had propelled the Welshman to first overall. After that, he distanced himself from M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver Ott Tanak to win by 27.0s in his GR Yaris Rally1.

The triumph, his first since Rally Finland in the fall of 2021 and the first of his career on an all-asphalt WRC round, elevated Evans from fifth to first in the drivers’ championship standings. After round four of 13, he leads Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier by three points, with Tanak just one point further back in third.

After taking the win, Evans reflected on the loss of his friend and rival, Ireland’s Craig Breen, who was killed testing his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 in a pre-Rally Croatia test. 

“Obviously we’ve been working towards this for a long time, but it all feels so insignificant at the moment — that’s the bottom line,” said Evans. “After the focus of the weekend, we’re all back to missing our friend now. Straightaway after coming across the finish line, that’s all we can think about. We promised Craig’s family we would enjoy the weekend, and we’ve done that. We’re all thinking of them right now.”

Winners Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin pay tribute to Ireland’s Craig Breen. McKlein/Motorsport Images

Evans’ Toyota Gazoo Racing team preserved its unbeaten Rally Croatia record, making it three wins in three events, while also increasing its WRC manufacturers’ championship lead over Hyundai Motorsport to 29 points.

The 2023 WRC season’s first all-asphalt rally delivered tremendous action, and Tanak looked set to become a real threat to Evans as he set a furious pace early on Saturday afternoon. However, a transmission issue toward the end of the penultimate leg obstructed the Estonian’s charge and he cruised to Sunday’s finish 31.6s clear of Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi.

Lappi lacked confidence on some of the dirtier sections of road, but consistency rewarded him with his first podium for Hyundai — a welcome boost after crashing out from the lead in the previous round in Mexico.

Esapekka Lappi bounced back from his Mexico crash to finish third for Hyundai. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Behind Lappi were a trio of Toyotas headed by defending WRC champ Kalle Rovanpera, 19.7s in arrears. The Finn had fallen outside of the overall top 10 after changing a wheel in Friday’s second stage, but hauled himself back up the leaderboard with an impressive recovery drive. He passed Ogier during Sunday’s final morning to claim fourth overall, edging his teammate by just 9.7s.

Ogier, who led the points before this rally, despite choosing to run only a limited WRC campaign this season, was left to rue what could have been. Although he trailed winner Evans by 1min28.0s at the finish, he’d also stopped to change a wheel while leading on Friday and received further blows in the form of time penalties. In total, the eight-time champ’s time loss amounted to roughly two-and-a-half minutes, ending his chances of making it three wins from his three 2023 starts so far.

Takamoto Katsuta made it four Toyotas in the top six, ahead of seventh-placed Pierre-Louis Loubet, who nursed his Puma to the finish with bent steering. 

Completing the runners in the WRC’s headlining hybrid Rally1 class, Thierry Neuville, who’d led after Friday, then crashed out on Saturday, restarted with the aim of grabbing maximum bonus points on the rally-closing Wolf Power Stage — a mission the Belgian duly accomplished after gambling on carrying no spare tires in his Hyundai i20 N to save weight.  

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Yohan Rossel secured his second victory in as many 2023 starts, having led the class from Friday’s opening stage.

The Frenchman took control from the get-go and never faltered in his Citroen C3. He did, however, come under some pressure from Skoda Fabia RS driver Nikolay Gryazin, whose Saturday afternoon charge ate into his lead. The pair entered Sunday’s four-stage finale just 11.5s apart, but Rossel, who also won WRC2 at the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally, delivered a faultless drive to keep his rival 16.1s behind at the finish.

Oliver Solberg finished third on the road in his Skoda, but was not registered for WRC2 points in Croatia (WRC2 drivers nominate seven rounds to secure championship points). That left Emil Lindholm to complete the podium in his Fabia after fighting back from a broken transmission linkage on Friday. The Finn was a hefty 1m11.4sec adrift of the front-running pair, although he did have 51.0s in hand over fourth-placed Adrien Fourmaux’s M-Sport Ford Fiesta.

Yohan Rossel made it two WRC2 wins from two 2023 starts in his Citroen C3. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Next event for the WRC is Rally Portugal, May 11-14. Running over fast and technical gravel roads inland from Porto, it’s one of the oldest and most popular rounds in the championship. Reigning WRC champ Kalle Rovanpera was last year’s winner, and will be looking to take his title defense up a gear with a repeat this time around.

WRC Rally Croatia, final positions after Day Three, SS20
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h50m54.3s
2 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +27.0s
3 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +58.6s
4 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m18.3s
5 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m28.0s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m22.5s
7 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicola Gilsoul (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +4m22.6s
8 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2 winner) +7m51.3s
9 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +8m07.4s
10 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS) +9m16.7s

WRC Drivers’ Championship after 4 rounds
1 Evans 69 points
2 Ogier 66
3 Tanak 65
4 Rovanpera 64
5 Neuville 53

WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 4 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing 154 points
2 Hyundai Motorsport 126
3 M-Sport Ford 108   

Check out WRC.com, the official home of the FIA World Rally Championship. And for the ultimate WRC experience, sign up for a WRC+ All Live subscription to watch all stages of every rally live and on demand, whenever and wherever.

Toyota ‘showed what we can do, but we remain humble’ – Lopez

Toyota’s dominant 1-2 finish in the season-opening Sebring 1000 Miles showed the rest of the FIA WEC Hypercar field what Toyota is capable of, race winner Jose Maria Lopez told RACER after Friday’s eight-hour event. The Japanese team controlled the …

Toyota’s dominant 1-2 finish in the season-opening Sebring 1000 Miles showed the rest of the FIA WEC Hypercar field what Toyota is capable of, race winner Jose Maria Lopez told RACER after Friday’s eight-hour event.

The Japanese team controlled the race almost from start to finish, with both its GR010 HYBRIDs finishing two laps ahead of the other teams in the Hypercar class. The flawless run has silenced anyone who doubted the team’s ability or the GR010 as a platform, after spending multiple seasons competing against smaller team’s since Porsche’s exit from LMP1 in 2017.

Lopez, who along with Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi, led home the 1-2 finish, told RACER that the team wasn’t surprised that AF Corse’s Ferrari 499P was capable of setting pole, after gradually finding pace throughout the Prologue test and free practice sessions. However, he also said the team, which has a decade of WEC top-class experience, believed it was still the favorite, racing against a field packed with new cars from the likes of Porsche, Cadillac and Ferrari.

“Ferrari taking pole was hard to take, but we knew it would be like this with more competitors,” he explained. “I wasn’t surprised with the pole. They showed they had pace; we knew they’d be capable of that. It was a punch, but we didn’t give up because we knew we had a good car for the race. We have lots of experience too in the WEC. Today the gap doesn’t reflect the real gap to Ferrari, we just made no mistakes and were good in the pits, and had a good strategy.

“At the end of the day, in recent years we’ve had tough competition from within our own team. We have ended up fighting the No. 8 for 24 hours and ended with a couple of seconds between us. The pressure is always high here. We have always worked to improve.

“We know it will be a difficult year. Peugeot, Ferrari, Porsche and Cadillac are going to work. We showed what we can do, but we remain humble.”

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The improvements made to the GR010 HYBRID for 2023 also played a significant part in the team’s ability to pull away from the field, Lopez said. For 2023 the GR010 HYBRID is lighter and benefits from a more aggressive aero package and cooling system.

“The car in race conditions is definitely a step forward. Last year our best time was a (1m49.2s); this year we found around 5s. The job the team has done is amazing. Of course, it’s still not easy here because of the bumps, changes in grip, and traffic. It’s one of the most difficult of the year, but I am so proud.”

On a personal level, Lopez’s performance during the race was also significant. During last year’s opener, a mistake from the Argentinian driver cost the No. 7 crew a chance at victory when he wrote the car off in spectacular fashion 111 laps into the race. An error in judgment led to a high-speed, head-on collision with the tire barriers at Turn 11. At the time he was heavily criticized for driving too fast with bodywork rubbing against the front tires following contact earlier in the lap.

This year was an entirely different story. Winning the race, with a faultless performance, has given him a huge confidence boost to start the season and puts him in early contention to win the 2023 world championship.

“Especially after last year, this is great,” he admitted. “I’ve never had it easy here. You need to turn the page and do the job. The most important thing to me is that the team has my back. I have great teammates as well, and I managed to put in good stints and get the victory.”

Toyota dominates WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring

Toyota Gazoo Racing scored an impressive, dominant 1-2 victory in the opening round of the 2023 FIA WEC season at Sebring. The Japanese-flagged team’s GR010 HYBRIDs controlled the race almost from start to finish, after AF Corse’s bid to win on the …

Toyota Gazoo Racing scored an impressive, dominant 1-2 victory in the opening round of the 2023 FIA WEC season at Sebring. The Japanese-flagged team’s GR010 HYBRIDs controlled the race almost from start to finish, after AF Corse’s bid to win on the Ferrari 499P’s debut from pole position quickly faded in the opening hour.

The No. 7 GR010 HYBRID of Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi took the win, finishing 2.1s ahead of the No. 8 sister car of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa. The two Toyotas spent much of the race together on track, but the crew on the pit wall managed the second half of the race to ensure there were no heroics by the drivers that would risk a 1-2 formation finish.

In the end, the two cars crossed the line over two laps clear of the pack, in a race that was relatively subdued up front in the second half. After so much promise and expectation pre-race that Ferrari, and perhaps Cadillac, could challenge Toyota, the race turned out to hardly be a contest. A combination of mechanical issues, incidents, penalties and a lack of ultimate pace prevented any of Toyota’s rivals from keeping close.

“Thanks to Toyota Gazoo Racing in Japan. This was very tough yesterday, but we were strong today — finished 1-2,” Kobayashi said after the race. “Today is just the start. There are big races coming. We need to work and improve, but I am excited by this. It’s so challenging.”

Lopez was upbeat about his change of fortune compared to 2022 — a win this year, rather than ending on his roof as he did at Sebring a year ago.

“The 2023 GR010 is definitely a step forward,” the Argentinian said. “The job that this team has done is amazing, especially after last year. It’s important for me to win today, and it’s great that the team has my back.”

The most competitive race in Hypercar was for the final podium spot, with Porsche, Cadillac and the Ferraris all spending time in and around the top five. There were plenty of exciting on-track battles, including memorable duels between Laurens Vanthoor (No. 6 Porsche) and Alex Lynn (Cadillac) as well as Miguel Molina (No. 50 Ferrari) and Kevin Estre (No. 6 Porsche). The cars looked extremely tough to drive in the Florida sunshine when the tires are worn at the end of a double stint, making for some nail-biting moments.

In the end, the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari, after a rollercoaster race, finished up a distant third. Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina all drove well here, but their chances of converting yesterday’s famous pole into victory faltered in the opening laps.

A big off for Luis Perez Companc at Turn 1, in which the Argentinian rolled his No. 83 Richard Mille Ferrari 488 GTE after sliding backwards off track and into the tire barriers, brought out a lengthy safety car period which prompted a strategy gamble from Ferrari. AF Corse brought both cars in, and both lost time getting stuck in their pit boxes in the traffic, emerging sixth and ninth.

They never recovered. The No. 50 was handed a drive-through penalty for overtaking before the start line under the safety car, and then a 5s penalty for a pit infringement. The No. 51, meanwhile, dropped down the order after Alessandro Pier Guidi clashed with Francesco Castelaccci’s AF Corse GTE Ferrari on the run to Turn 13 at the start of Hour 7, which sent him spinning off track and into the No. 56 Project 1 AO Porsche. Pier Guidi had to limp back, have the car repaired, then return to the pitlane serve a penalty for causing a collision. The car finished 15th overall.

It’s a testament to the pace and reliability of the Ferrari 499Ps that AF Corse will leave disappointed with a podium on the car’s race debut, though. The team now knows where it needs to make gains before Portimao and ultimately Le Mans.

Just off the podium was the Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook. The Cadillac had a strong first outing in the WEC and the Ganassi-operated team, like AF Corse, will take positives from this. The team, with only one car in a class featuring four two-car factory efforts, did extremely well and came so close to a podium. In the end it became a chase between Fuoco and Bamber, with Bamber handed a set of four tires and a 9s gap to eliminate in his final stint, but he was unable to reel in Fuoco and crossed the line 10s behind.

“The car was great. The pace was better than we expected, and we took advantage at the end of one of the Ferraris misfortune, but we’re racing for the podium and we gave it all we had,” said Cadillac Racing team manager and strategist Stephen Mitas. “We’ll keep giving it the same effort we’ve given it so far and try to build on this good result.”

Penalties proved costly for the Penske Porsches, winding up fifth and sixth. The car didn’t have the speed over a double stint to stay in the fight — the grip levels from the rear tires on the 963s fell off a cliff towards the end of each stint, appearing to be a handful to drive.

Perhaps the most disappointing performance, though, was from Peugeot Sport, which made its 9X8 debut last season. Both cars suffered major mechanical issues, beginning before the race even started when Loic Duval was forced to pit the No. 94 on the second formation lap with gearbox issues.

It really has been a trip to Sebring to forget for the French brand, which had neither the pace nor the reliability to be in the mix for even a top five. Both made it to the end, but the No. 93 ended up 31st, and the No. 94 was 32nd. Next time out in Portugal, on a track that is less aggressive than Sebring, you’d expect the 9X8s to be more of a force, but there are no guarantees. Much work is required to get in shape for Le Mans.

The remaining two entries from the non-hybrid boutique manufacturers, Glickenhaus and Vanwall, had races to forget as well. Glickenhaus’ 007 had its engine cut out, retiring after just 62 laps. The Vanwall had a better time, though it could only muster a 30th-place finish, after collisions and a suspension issue cost the new Gibson-powered Vandervell 680 chunks of time.

The Hypercar contest may not have been a classic, but it’s early days for the new-look field. It also served as a strong reminder of just how strong Toyota is. There was plenty of chatter ahead of this race about Toyota’s ability to continue winning against renewed opposition after multiple seasons without major factory opposition. It’s clear that Toyota Gazoo Racing is a well-oiled machine, and the organization’s decade of experience in the WEC makes it extremely hard to beat. The competition will have to be faultless.

In LMP2, HERTZ Team JOTA’s No. 48 ORECA of Yifei Ye, David Beckmann and Will Stevens stormed to victory in dramatic fashion, in a car that’s only due to compete in LMP2 until Spa. There, the team is expected to debut a customer Porsche 963 in Hypercar, scaling back its P2 effort to a single car.

It was a commanding performance from the trio, who led most of the second half of the race — one turned on its head in the fourth hour when United’s No. 23 ORECA retired. In the opening hours the pole-sitting No. 23 from the Anglo-American team built a comfortable lead and was lapping the back of the field until Josh Pierson, in the midst of a superb stint, pulled off at the side of the road, the car losing power.

The race was blown wide open, allowing the No. 48 to take control at the front. It was an impressive run, which almost ended with a disappointing second-place finish after Stevens had to take a splash in the final hour and dropped to second.

Prema’s No. 63 inherited the lead and Mirko Bortolotti looked set to steal the win with the sun setting, but he had to pit with just a couple of laps left, dropping the car to third behind the No. 22 United ORECA. Aside from the disappointing finish, it was a near-flawless run from Bortolotti, Doriane Pin and Daniel Kvyat, who should have title aspirations after a performance like this.

“We knew it would be close,” admitted Stevens. “We had to change our strategy and do a triple at the end. We knew it would be tight. I didn’t think Prema would have to stop, so I was super happy when they did. It’s a strong start to the year. we start as we mean to go on.”

The No. 22 United Autosports ORECA (Filipe Albuquerque, Phil Hanson, Frederik Lubin) fought hard for a second-place finish, salvaging something for the team, doing much to lift the mood.

The Inter Europol ORECA had an impressive, metronomic run to fourth, finishing ahead of the No. 41 WRT ORECA that completed the top five.

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GTE Am was a similar story to LMP2. The car that looked set to win hit trouble, changing the race.

In this case, it was the Iron Dames Porsche. The all-female trio of Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey and Sarah Bovy, who started from pole, benefitted early from being in the pits during an FCY and held a lead of over half a minute when Bovy handed over to Frey. Unfortunately, the lead wouldn’t last long, as Frey made an error at Turn 1, going off track on the exit, ripping the rear bumper and diffuser off the car.

Frey limped to the pits for repairs, dropping the car down the order, the team forced to switch to recovery mode and spend the remaining hours fighting their way back to eighth. It wasn’t a fairytale first race for Iron Dames with Porsche, but the team looks set to be a force to reckon with.

The No. 33 Corvette Racing C8.R of Ben Keating, Nico Varrone and Nicky Catsburg took the class victory on the US factory team’s home soil and on its GTE Am debut.

Keating set this victory up, the Texan the class of the Bronze drivers in the field; his performance, in trademark fashion, so strong that the team went almost unchallenged after the drama for Iron Dames in the first half of the race. Varrone, on his Corvette WEC debut, was also extremely impressive, completing an iron-man triple stint during the race.

“Ben did a great job with the start and in his first three stints,” Varrone said after the race. “He got us to P2. Then I jumped in the car for three hours, which was tough. Then I handed it over to Nicky, who is a legend. We all know that he knows what to do. He brought it home safely and now I can’t be happier!

“This was a very difficult race for me. I had to do a triple stint in the middle. I’ve had to do a triple stint at Le Mans, but I have to say that Sebring is much more difficult! Ben did a great job at the start to get the car to me. The track was changing a lot during the whole race, so we had to figure out what was happening. Corvette Racing did a great job with that. They did a great job all week long. It’s a dream come true.”

Keating beamed at the result along with his teammates.

“It’s so special to defend home turf. This is the only home race for us, so it’s special to perform well here,” he stated proudly. “All of us didn’t make mistakes, which is great as it’s mayhem out there. Everyone else had some problem or another. It’s a nice way to win.”

The gap to the second place No. 77 Dempsey Proton Porsche was almost 90s at the finish. The Porsche contingent pushed hard and climbed the order, taking second right at the end. With six minutes to go, the No. 57 Kessel Racing Ferrari pitted for a splash, dropping to third agonizingly close to the end.

AF Corse’s No. 21 Ferrari finished fourth with the Iron Lynx Porsche in fifth.

RESULTS

INSIGHT: How Toyota fine-tuned for a bigger and badder Hypercar class

Confidence is high at Toyota Gazoo Racing ahead of the 1000 Miles of Sebring. While much of the competition in Hypercar have been busy getting up to speed with new machinery over the off-season and throughout the past week in Florida, Toyota has …

Confidence is high at Toyota Gazoo Racing ahead of the 1000 Miles of Sebring. While much of the competition in Hypercar have been busy getting up to speed with new machinery over the off-season and throughout the past week in Florida, Toyota has been working on perfecting the proven package that is the GR010 HYBRID.

Throughout practice and qualifying  at Sebring the GR010 HYBRID has looked like the car to beat, despite AF Corse’s No. 50 499P snatching the headlines, and losing pole position last night came as a surprise to the Japanese-flagged team. Toyota remains the favorite for the race though, and while that may seem unsurprising, to those directly involved, it validates their efforts in recent seasons.

Toyota has been an almost unstoppable force for years now in the FIA WEC, but true, world-class competition hasn’t been there since Porsche departed after 2017. The opportunity has finally arrived for the Cologne-based team to show everyone just how strong its WEC effort really is, after years spent waiting for the cavalry to arrive.

For this season, Toyota decided not to bring a brand-new car to the WEC. Instead, it opted to improve its existing challenger, which has delivered a pair of world championships and Le Mans wins.

At a glance, the GR010 HYBRID, with its new aero package that features new dive planes, a smaller rear wing end plate and a new set of lights that improve visibility at night, simply looks more aggressive. But the Toyota team’s aim isn’t wasn’t to improve the car’s looks…

The new package has improved brake cooling and allows quick changes to cooling options during a race, achieved through new vents at the front and rear. It’s now a lighter car too, its weight down to the minimum 1040kg (2293 lbs) allowed by technical regulations. Principally, Toyota has been working to adapt the car to the ever-evolving regulations, which have been chopped and changed since Toyota began developing the car back when the new Hypercar formula was first revealed.

With plenty of mileage completed with the new-look GR010 the drivers are all up to speed and comfortable with the new package. The feedback has been positive.

“We’ve worked on the weak areas, they were not easy to overcome. With the rule changes since our initial design, we’ve had to work to get the car into a better window. We’ve done a decent job, and come with a more driveable car,” No. 7 driver Mike Conway told RACER.

Behind the wheel, Conway says he feels the new GR010 is more nimble, making it easier to navigate the LMP2 and GTE traffic.

“You can definitely see the difference in lap time — we are quicker and it’s easier to drive. We were lacking last year to the Alpine. The car is now more responsive and agile; you can place it easier. The traffic is different too this year because we have new competition, so we have to look at where they are strong and weak too.”

Ryo Hirakawa, who drives the No. 8, echoes this, explaining that the improvements made to the car are particularly noticeable on an aggressive track like Sebring.

“Compared to last year, there is a big difference,” he explained. “It’s just an easier car to manage as a driver. Under braking and over the bumps here it’s far easier to handle, last year it moved around a lot more at Sebring.”

The Hypercar class has a new look though — it’s bigger and deeper, with fierce competition expected from Ferrari, Cadillac and Porsche’s new programs and hopefully, the returning Peugeot effort, which for the moment is lagging behind.

Ahead of what has the potential to be the most competitive top-class title battle in WEC history, Conway says the team is energised by the new arrivals in Hypercar.

“When we first exited the pit lane on Day 1 of the Prologue I was like, ‘Wow, 2023 really has started.’ This is what we’ve wanted for so long, and it’s finally here. There are so many unknowns — we will have to take more risks and push harder in traffic, I’m excited.”

Toyota is ready to get down to business. It’s going to be fascinating to see if the new competition can challenge the champions from the start. If qualifying is anything to go by, then we could be in for a titanic battle for the win.

Toyota finishes WEC Prologue on top once again

Toyota Gazoo Racing completed its 2023 FIA WEC Prologue running with a third 1-2 from four sessions over the two days of track action. The final session of the day, and event, was topped by Brendon Hartley in the No. 8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID. His …

Toyota Gazoo Racing completed its 2023 FIA WEC Prologue running with a third 1-2 from four sessions over the two days of track action.

The final session of the day, and event, was topped by Brendon Hartley in the No. 8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID. His 1m48.216s was just 0.008s off the fastest time of the Prologue test, which came from Jose Maria Lopez (No. 7) in the first session Saturday.

Notably, all six Toyota drivers featured in the top seven of the combined fastest lap by driver chart. There was just over 0.4s between Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi who bookended the Toyota times.

Cadillac Racing’s Earl Bamber spoiled a Toyota clean sweep with his session-topping time Saturday afternoon, just 0.1s off the fastest time in the test.

During the final session, Toyota completed 145 laps across its pair of GR010s — significantly more than the other manufacturers. Over the two days, Toyota completed 3,533 kilometers of running across 587 laps.

At the other end of the scale, it was a frustrating end to the Prologue for Peugeot Sport. Its 9X8s managed just 69 laps combined, with 65 of them coming from the No. 94.

The No. 93 car completed just four laps, spending most of the session in the garage for mechanical repairs. It wasn’t a clean session for the No. 94 either, as the car had an off at Turn 3, damaging the front end, and was forced into the pits for some replacement bodywork.

The fastest non-Toyota was Cadillac, with a 1m48.890s from Richard Westbrook, buoyed by the team’s performance in its first FIA WEC event.

“What a start we’ve made and there is so much more to come,” he said after the session.

The Briton was 0.4s clear of Nicklas Nielsen in the sole (No. 50) Ferrari that took part in the session — the Dane moving up the order after a late effort. The No. 51 sister car missed the entire session, the team spending all afternoon assessing the integrity of the chassis following James Calado’s hefty off at Turn 1 during the morning session on cold tires.

We await further information from AF Corse concerning the extent of the damage.

Elsewhere in class, the two Penske Porsches ended up fifth and sixth, 1.5s and 1.6s off the fastest Toyota time.

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The fastest car in LMP2, the No. 41 WRT ORECA, ended up with a 1m50.827s from Robert Kubica. The Pole ended up in amongst the Hypercars in eighth overall, his time faster than the best tours from the No. 94 Peugeot, Vanwall and Glickenhaus.

Completing the top three in class was the No. 48 JOTA ORECA, with the No. 22 United Autosports example that topped the first three sessions in third.

Further down the order, there was significant drama for JOTA’s other ORECA. The No. 28 of David Heinemeier Hansson had an off at Turn 14 just 10 minutes before the end of the session, damaging the front end of the car following a hit to the wall on driver’s right. This brought out the third and final red flag in the session, which ended prematurely as a result of the stoppage.

1.6s separated the entire field in LMP2.

GTE Am’s pace was set by GR Racing’s Ben Barker to conclude the test. He reeled off a 1m59.253s to go 0.01s faster than the impressive Lilou Wadoux in the Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 which slotted in second.

The Project 1 Porsche completed the top three. Corvette’s single C8.R ended up seventh, and yet again the three Aston Martin Vantages occupied the bottom three positions in the times.

Corvette Racing may not have had the ultimate pace of the leading Porsche and Ferraris, but Nicky Catsburg says it was a successful test for the team, which is still getting up to speed with its new driver combination and competition.

“We’re all getting used to each other and getting up to speed,” he said. “Ben (Keating) definitely showed his performance today. That’s very good. Nico (Varrone) got a lot of laps today and showed what he could do. We are getting to grips with each other and where we want the car to be. It’s a good starting point for the race week. We still have some little things to learn, get used to some driver changes and some procedural things that are normally all automatic. We still need to get a rhythm. But it’s all OK. This was a nice test.”

There was a significant drama in Am too. Stefano Costantini had an off into the barriers at Turn 17 towards the end of the session, resulting in substantial rear-end damage for the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari.

With the FIA WEC Prologue now over, it’s time for a pair of rest days before the “Super Sebring” meeting gets fully underway on Wednesday. By then the full IMSA paddock will be set up and the first competitive sessions of the FIA WEC season will take place.

RESULTS

Toyota back to the top in third Prologue session at Sebring

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s pair of GR010 HYBRIDs returned to the top of the timing screens in the third session of the Prologue weekend at Sebring. The No. 7, which went quickest in the first session Saturday, was fastest once again; Mike Conway setting …

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s pair of GR010 HYBRIDs returned to the top of the timing screens in the third session of the Prologue weekend at Sebring.

The No. 7, which went quickest in the first session Saturday, was fastest once again; Mike Conway setting a 1m48.473s, just 0.008s quicker than the sister car of Sebastien Buemi in second. Once again Toyota managed to complete plenty of laps during the three-and-a-half hours of track time. Combined, its GR010 HYBRIDs toured the circuit 164 times.

For the first time this weekend, Porsche managed to claim the fastest non-Toyota time with its No. 5 963. The Penske-run car with Michael Christensen at the wheel took third late in the session with a 1m48.957s, though the time was eclipsed by the best laps of all six of Toyota’s drivers.

Cadillac’s sole car — third in session one, then topping session two Saturday — ended the Sunday morning session fourth, 0.7s off the best Toyota time, piloted by Alex Lynn.

Further back the two Peugeots had a more productive session. The team completed 122 total laps and emerged sixth and seventh behind the second Porsche, the No. 94 a full 0.8s slower than the top time and the No. 93 a fraction over a second off the pace.

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It wasn’t a good session for Ferrari, however. The No. 50 ended up eighth, while the No. 51 didn’t set a single competitive lap after James Calado had an off at Turn 1 on his out-lap, damaging the right-front corner.

Vanwall had a more encouraging session, the Vandervell finishing up the running ninth, quicker than the entire LMP2 field for the first time — Tom Dillmann setting the time but with Esteban Guerrieri in amongst the LMP2s and Jacques Villeneuve once again slower than all of the LMP2 drivers.

The Glickenhaus 007, meanwhile, was struggling for pace and was slower than the top five ORECA 07 LMP2 cars.

Yet again in LMP2, United’s No. 22 ORECA was fastest, Filipe Albuquerque setting the best time (1m50.577s). The top three was completed by the No. 63 Prema Oreca in the hands of Doriane Pin and the No. 48 JOTA of Yifei Ye.

Of the GT cars, in Am it was an all-Porsche top five with the Project 1 AO 911 setting the fastest time. The best lap was a 1m59.170s from Matteo Cairoli, a tenth up on the Iron Lynx and Iron Dames Porsches which have been quick all weekend.

The fastest Ferrari was the Kessel Racing 488 slotting in sixth before an off for Takeshi Kimura caused major damage to the left-front corner of the car. It was fully repaired before the end of the session, though, and the team expects to head out for the final run in the afternoon.

Aston Martin’s slow start to the season continued. Yet again the three Vantages made up the bottom three places in the 14-car class with at least two of the cars having off-track moments in the session. The BoP, at this stage, appears to be slightly off for the TF and Northwest AMR efforts.

The Corvette Racing C8.R ended up 10th.

Track action continues with the final session Sunday afternoon.

RESULTS

Lopez, Toyota lead first WEC Prologue session at Sebring

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR010 HYBRIDs led the way in the first of four FIA WEC Prologue test sessions at a sunny and hot Sebring. The highly-experienced Japanese factory team, which has the most tried and tested car in the new-look Hypercar class, set …

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR010 HYBRIDs led the way in the first of four FIA WEC Prologue test sessions at a sunny and hot Sebring.

The highly-experienced Japanese factory team, which has the most tried and tested car in the new-look Hypercar class, set the pace as the WEC’s class of 2023 shared a track together for the first time.

Jose Maria Lopez was the quickest of the Toyotas, setting a 1m48.208s in the No. 7, marginally faster than the sister No. 8 which also ended up in the 1:48.2s. The cars completed 70 and 64 laps respectively.

The Cadillac Racing V-Series.R trailed the two Toyotas, piloted by Richard Westbrook, with a best time of 1m49.253s, having completed 44 laps.

Completing the top five in the running order was the No. 5 Porsche 963 at 1m49.650s and the No. 51 Ferrari 499P which toured the airfield circuit in 1m49.724s. Both cars completed an encouraging 60-plus laps.

Lower down the order, the pair of Peugeots both set times 2s off the ultimate pace, while the Glickenhaus and Vanwall were — perhaps unsurprisingly — the slowest in the category, mixed in amongst the LMP2s on ultimate pace.

The Vanwall Vandervell’s best time was a 1m52.410s, 4s off the pace. Notably, 1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villenueve — in his first WEC session with limited time spent in the Vanwall prior to this weekend — could only manage a 1m59.272s, making him the slowest driver in the class and only marginally quicker than the best GTE Am times.

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In LMP2, United Autosports’ No. 22 ORECA made a fast start to the season. Phil Hanson set the best time in the all-ORECA field — a 1m51.722s. Behind, the only other car setting a time under the 1m52s was the No. 41 WRT ORECA.

Hertz Team JOTA’s No. 48 completed the top three, with a time good enough to finish higher up the order than the Glickenhaus and Vanwall.

GTE Am, meanwhile, saw the Iron Dames Porsche lead the way. Michelle Gatting emerged fastest with a 1m59.913s; the top three all managing times under two minutes. The sister Iron Lynx Porsche ended up second, driven by Alessio Picariello. The fastest Ferrari completed the top three thanks to a quick time from former AF Corse GTE Pro regular Davide Rigon.

Of the other two brands in the class, Corvette’s C8.R ended up fifth with the three Aston Martin Vantage AMRs occupying the bottom three positions in the class.

Northwest AMR’s No. 98 Aston Martin — the only car in the field without a complete driver line-up — was driven by Axel Jeffries in the session. The Zimbabwean driver is testing for the team as they evaluate whether he or Thomas Merrill will take the third seat alongside Paul Dalla Lana and Nicki Thiim. Jeffries’ best time was just a tenth off Thiim’s quickest lap. Merrill is set to drive the car tomorrow.

Merrill wasn’t the only driver here for the Prologue who didn’t take part in the session. Five Hypercar drivers didn’t head out of the pit lane: Alex Lynn, Esteban Guerrieri, Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor.

Stefano Costantini also didn’t get behind the wheel of the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari.

During the session, race control opted to trial a number of procedures including a safety car period and red flag stoppage. Beyond a handful of minor offs, there were no major dramas.

RESULTS