In each of the four years the NASCAR Cup series championship has been contested at Phoenix Raceway, at least one Toyota driver has been included. But none of those drivers finished higher than third in the final championship standings. “It’s …
In each of the four years the NASCAR Cup series championship has been contested at Phoenix Raceway, at least one Toyota driver has been included. But none of those drivers finished higher than third in the final championship standings.
“It’s completely unacceptable that we have yet to win a championship in Phoenix,” TRD president David Wilson said over the winter. “I can go back and make excuses, but the buck stops here (and) it stops with our team partners and we, bottom line, haven’t gotten the job done.
“Our focus is Phoenix, and we all put so much emphasis on that.”
Toyota had five drivers lead Sunday’s race in a dominating showing for the manufacturer with 298 of 312 laps led. Christopher Bell went to victory lane, which was Toyota’s first win at the track since the spring of 2021 with Martin Truex Jr. However that race was the last year of the sixth-generation race car at the track. and since NASCAR rolled out Next Gen in 2022, it’s been even tougher sledding for the Toyota teams. In the previous four races at Phoenix, Toyota drivers had combined to lead just 15 laps.
“It’s no secret that Phoenix has been a little bit of a struggle for us,” Bell said after winning the Shriners Children’s 500. “After that first year of Next Gen, myself and Adam (Stevens, crew chief), we really sat down and said that Phoenix needs to be a focus point because I didn’t feel very good there the first two races in 2022 and then in 2023, we were a little better each time and today was lights out so today is a great day for the company.”
Denny Hamlin started the weekend by winning the pole and admitting Phoenix has been his weakest oval racetrack. Like his teammate Bell, Hamlin said he and his No. 11 group has been working on improving at Phoenix.
Toyota’s last fall win at Phoenix came in 2019, when it wasn’t the championship race. Lesley Ann Miller/Motorsport Images
Hamlin won the fall race at Phoenix Raceway in 2019 to qualify for the championship race a week later at Homestead-Miami Speedway. A year later, Phoenix started hosting the championship race. Hamlin made the Championship 4 in 2020 and 2021.
Looking back at Hamlin’s comments after those races, where he finished fourth (2020) and third (2021) in the final standings, brings to light how the pendulum was swinging away from Toyota’s direction. The short-track package wasn’t as strong for the Gibbs group in 2020, and Hamlin knew that things needed to fall perfectly for him in the finale. In 2021, it came down to an untimely final caution that sent the contenders down pit road one last time, where Kyle Larson’s team prevailed to get him out front.
But in hindsight, Hamlin and his camp knew it would be an uphill battle even going into the races. Hamlin later recalled a conversation on the plane to Phoenix during one of those championship seasons where Joe Gibbs Racing knew, given where they stacked up at Phoenix, they were long shots to win the title.
Hamlin led 68 laps on Sunday. Tyler Reddick also led 68 laps. Bell led 50 after taking the lead for the final time from Martin Truex Jr., who led 55. Ty Gibbs, who got the jump on Hamlin at the start of the race, led the first 57 laps.
Reddick won the first stage and Bell won the second stage. From start to finish at Phoenix, it was a day for Toyota.
Wilson’s tone afterwards was much different, with a hint of relief, from the last time he spoke about Phoenix Raceway.
“For Toyota, this was a momentous win,” Wilson said. “This was the first win with our new Camry body. I was clear to say at the beginning of the year that we have struggled here recently. I didn’t realize this statistic until it was brought to my attention, but in the four previous Phoenix races, Toyota led a combined 15 laps.
“(Sunday) we led everything but 14 laps. That’s a credit to the Joe Gibbs organization, TRD USA, Calty Design, who helped us with this new Camry body. At the same time, I will say that the secret to longevity in sports, in motorsports, is never get too high when the day goes your way, and never get too low when it doesn’t because we’re going to be racing again next week. Phoenix will be in our rearview mirror.”
Toyota deserves its due for the work that went into making a statement with Sunday’s performance. But as Wilson also advised, it’s just a start in the right direction and the series is going to evolve between now and the championship race in November. For the teams who couldn’t keep up with the Toyota drivers Sunday, plenty of racing is left to evolve and hone in on the short-track package.
If a Toyota driver makes it to Phoenix in the fall for the fifth consecutive year with a shot at the championship, there should be no overreacting to what that means based on the spring race. But there is no denying Toyota laid down the gauntlet of what the field is aiming for and should feel pretty good about having a much better notebook to build on for the race that really matters.
Thursday night’s qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway were particularly important to the Ford and Toyota camps as both kept close watch of their redesigned bodies. It was unknown how the Ford Mustang Dark Horse and Toyota Camry XSE …
Thursday night’s qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway were particularly important to the Ford and Toyota camps as both kept close watch of their redesigned bodies.
It was unknown how the Ford Mustang Dark Horse and Toyota Camry XSE would react in the draft and how they would push teammates. The expectation was that it would be better, even more stable to push draft, but the first chance to find out came with the high stakes of competing for a spot in the Daytona 500.
Friday morning, both sides were breathing a little easier.
“We were really curious to see how things were going to play out in the Duels because that’s our first opportunity with the new car in traffic,” Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance, said. “We didn’t have the numbers in the first race with only four or five Mustangs in there. Certainly, had the numbers in the second race, and we got a lot of feedback and comments from the drivers and some things that could be worked on with the setup to optimize that. But, at this point, we’re still very happy with the new car and looking forward to seeing how things play out.”
Ford didn’t win either one of the Bluegreen Vacations Duel races. In the first race, the highest-finishing Ford was Joey Logano, finishing seventh — one of just four Ford drivers in the first race.
In the second, Austin Cindric was the highest-finishing Ford as the runner-up. The manufacturer had 12 drivers in the second race.
Although shut out in race competition, Ford is riding high from single-car qualifying, where they swept the front row for the Daytona 500. Logano will start from the pole with Michael McDowell alongside him.
“We normally don’t place a lot of emphasis on qualifying here because what matters at the end of the day is how the cars race,” Rushbrook said. “But it still was nice to get that front row, especially for Roger Penske to get a pole here. That was on his list of accomplishments that he wanted to add to, and really happy to see Front Row up there next to Penske.”
A Toyota driver won both of Thursday’s races. Tyler Reddick led the one key lap in the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel. There were five Toyota drivers in the first race, and they combined for 20 laps led. Reddick was the first of three Toyota drivers who finished inside the top 10.
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In the second race, Christopher Bell made a last-lap pass. He, too, led just the one lap. Again, three Toyota drivers were inside the top 10 of the four drivers in the race. They combined for 27 laps led.
“Obviously it’s tough…when you develop a body and you’re just looking at CFD and some wind tunnel data, and you have no idea what’s really going to happen when you get in traffic on the track,” Paul Doleshal, general manager of motorsports for Toyota Motor North America. “But I think we were a little bit disturbed – probably a strong word — but surprised at the lack of qualifying speed, but then felt that the car would race well, and that proved out, so we’re encouraged with that. I think it’s just figuring out where the car wants to sit and kind of working on some of the things from a setup perspective, which the teams and TRD will be actively pursuing and already have been.
“I don’t think we have a lot of worries; we know there’s a learning curve any time you change a body or major component like that, especially from an aerodynamic standpoint. We’ll just keep digging on it, but we should be fine as we work through it. The drivers seem to have good feedback on the car, how it was in traffic and performed on the superspeedway. We’re encouraged.”
Of the three manufacturers in NASCAR, Chevrolet goes into the season without a change to its body. Chevrolet’s Camaro might be coming out of production for street vehicles, but the model will still compete in NASCAR for the foreseeable future.
Chevrolet teams can jump out to an early advantage while their rivals work through fielding new cars, but Jim Campbell, the vice president of performance and motorsports for Chevrolet, isn’t looking at it that way or anticipating much.
“Well, we will see here this weekend. Hopefully this weekend, [and] if not this weekend, soon,” Campbell said of any gap between the three manufacturers. “The one thing that NASCAR has done in the ruleset is they keep us in a pretty tight box and keep the competition tight. Basically, in downforce and drag, they have parameters that you are required to stay within. Our car is within that box, as are the other two OEMs. It’s going to be tight.
“You can see out there in the Duels how tight that is going to be. The one thing that we do have, because our body is the same as last year, is just continuity and momentum in development in preparation and simulation versus the time that we have had to switch to a new body — we spent a lot of time on that switchover. That is a positive, but you can see how tight it is out there, and that is mainly because of the rule settings that NASCAR has on downforce and drag requirements.”
David Wilson acknowledges that Chevrolet was the dominant manufacturer by far in NASCAR last season, and as the 2024 season begins, Ford and Toyota are in chase mode. But that’s not to discount the “strong year for Toyota” in 2023. Wilson, the …
David Wilson acknowledges that Chevrolet was the dominant manufacturer by far in NASCAR last season, and as the 2024 season begins, Ford and Toyota are in chase mode.
But that’s not to discount the “strong year for Toyota” in 2023. Wilson, the president of Toyota Racing Development, called the group’s speed in the latter half of the season “second to none.” Not only were Toyota drivers often the fastest on any given weekend, but eight of the 16 polls earned throughout the season came in the final 10 races.
“So, we were not lacking for speed — and mind you that’s the hardest thing if you are,” Wilson said. “We were a little bit challenged with race craft, pit lane, consistency, and as we’ve talked about in particular with this new car, you’re not going to win a championship, you’re not going to win a race unless you perform flawlessly or near flawlessly in pit lane. That’s become a critical performance component in our sport. And I love it. That makes this sport so special. But we need to be better.”
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Ford won eight races and walked away with the NASCAR Cup Series championship, claimed by Ryan Blaney. Chevrolet won 18 races in the Cup Series but claimed the manufacturers’ championship in all three series.
Toyota had 10 wins with four drivers in the Cup Series last season and one driver, Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing, represented in the championship race. None of those victories were in crown jewel events, although Denny Hamlin won the highly regarded Bristol night race.
Denny Hamlin had some highlights for Toyota last year, but Wilson (right) is looking for more from all of the manufacturer’s pack this season. Nigel Kinrade/Motorsport Images
This season, Toyota will have a third organization in its stable with the addition of Legacy Motor Club. It will be the first time since 2011 that Toyota has had eight full-time teams on track in the Cup Series. At times, it will be nine cars with the part-time schedule Jimmie Johnson is slated to run.
“I’d be very disappointed if we don’t pick up where we left off when it comes to speed,” Wilson said. “This new Camry body (pictured, top) is just badass, it really is, and we expect it to be better. We expect it to be better on the speedways; we’ve got two more cars — three with Jimmie — at Daytona, so we’re actually going to have a pack. Our pack has always been kind of disappointing but we’ve got some numbers now to work with.
“I’ll get right down to it — all four JGR cars should win, should make the playoffs. Ty Gibbs, I think this is his year. He’s coming into himself from a confidence perspective, from a performance perspective. We expect Ty to win this year. We expect 23XI (Racing) to do the same — to win, both cars to be in the playoffs.”
The unknown for Wilson and Toyota is Legacy Motor Club. Wilson describes it as a “stretch goal” for one of the two Legacy drivers (Erik Jones or John Hunter Nemechek) to earn a postseason berth. Jones has been a playoff driver before, but not with Legacy Motor Club. Nemechek is entering his second full season in the Cup Series.
Legacy Motor Club is also taking an independent approach to its program. Although it will have the resources, teammates, and data from the Toyota camp, Legacy Motor Club is not tied to the other organizations through an alliance and has brought its pit crews in-house.
“We’re standing with them shoulder to shoulder every week, helping them get better,” Wilson said. “But honestly, we’ve got a lot to be excited about.”
Toyota last claimed the Cup Series championship in 2019. It’s the same year as their last manufacturers’ championship in the series.
Just as one would look around their home after the holidays wondering what they want to get rid of, Joey Cohen and Legacy Motor Club did the same thing at the race shop. “How am I going to get rid of all this clutter?” Cohen, the vice president of …
Just as one would look around their home after the holidays wondering what they want to get rid of, Joey Cohen and Legacy Motor Club did the same thing at the race shop.
“How am I going to get rid of all this clutter?” Cohen, the vice president of race operations, joked to RACER.
In this case, the clutter is cars, parts, and pieces no longer of use to Legacy Motor Club as it goes from competing with Chevrolet to Toyota this season. So, after the November season finale at Phoenix Raceway, one of the organization’s biggest priorities making room for new inventory.
“I turned into part salesman the last three races of the year,” Cohen said. “We have a communication path with all of our other teams, so I’m sending emails to all our Chevrolet counterparts. I’m like, ‘Hey, I’ve got all these Chevy parts sitting here. They’re only a year old, or at most two years old. First come, first served. Whoever comes and gets them, gets them and they’re yours.”
The advantage of NASCAR’s Next Gen Cup series car is the single-source supplied parts. There are hardly any proprietary pieces being made by race teams and kept from public eye.
“There are Chevrolet teams out there willing to take advantage of getting (our) parts used at a discount to save a little money,” Cohen said. “We can just recoup a little bit of our capital back for the parts that are no longer any good to us.”
It took about a month for Legacy Motor Club to remove traces of being a Chevrolet team. Cohen described it as mind-numbing to see just how many parts and pieces ended up in a storage unit after two seasons with a new vehicle. There were full bodies – some that hadn’t been raced – oil tanks, oil lines, air boxes, and specific parts for a Chevrolet motor.
“Frankly, like a million-and-a-half dollars’ worth of stuff,” Cohen said. “What are we going to do with it? It’s a big responsibility to figure out, because I’m going to have to turn around and buy that same stuff again for Toyota. So, I’m sitting here and the owner’s calling asking, ‘what’s our plan here?’ I’m like, ‘hey look, here’s the realistic probability. If we can get 60 cents on the dollar, we’re doing really good.’ The good thing about the Next Gen stuff, it holds its value because it’s common.”
The race season ended on Sunday, November 5. By the time the calendar turned to December, Legacy Motor Club had its first Toyota car on track. Erik Jones drove the No. 43 in the two-day test at Phoenix on December 5 and 6 as NASCAR experimented with its short-track package.
Before the test, Legacy Motor Club had a pile of 2023-style parts sent by 23XI Racing to be put on the pit stop cars. The organization has brought its pit crews in-house – just as 23XI Racing did going into 2023. The Legacy crews will train alongside its Toyota teammates from 23XI Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing.
There have been plenty of other changes around the shop. A fresh coat of paint on the walls and a redone floor. The lobby is also being redecorated, as are the walls leading into the race shop. One wall has a mural of the history of GMS Racing, the now-shuttered Craftsman Truck series operation. The other wall will be done with the history of Legacy Motor Club plus those of co-owners Maury Gallagher, Richard Petty and Jimmie Johnson.
By the front door, a wall has been taken down and replaced by glass windows allowing visitors to see into the shop. And GMS Racing no longer being in operation has freed up more space for the Cup series team since both organizations were splitting the shop floor.
“A majority of the October, November unraveling was how do we wind that down, clear this space out and make it more dedicated, more intentional for a Cup shop?” Cohen said. “Whereas before, we were trying to be good roommates. We were like, hey, you guys are over here, we’re over here, but if you need this … Now we go down there and we have all this space. We cleaned up some things, brightened it up. The building needed some attention.
“We’re bringing tools and people in that needed spaces. So, it was a really good time to tackle that as we’re waiting on the other things to happen.”
There was a lot of waiting before action could be taken. Legacy Motor Club and Toyota announced their partnership on May 2 2023. In the aftermath, the organization remained committed to finishing its tenure with Chevrolet and fulfilling its partnership even as those resources and tools dried up.
“We were in the race season, right? We’re actively competing with a Chevrolet team,” Cohen said. “You have to be respect of your current agreements; you have to honor those. We did that.”
In the interim, no possession of Toyota parts or changes were made in the race shop. But there was a “countdown to Toyota” tracker kept on a white board.
“They had all sorts of countdowns,” Cohen laughed. “Like ‘countdown since the last major announcement.’ Or ‘days without a new hire in the building.’ It was like four or five different ones. It’s funny because that’s what’s the most noticeable about our environment, there is something happening all the time.”
Legacy Motor Club still had to go to the track and compete as a Chevrolet team while preparing to transition to Toyota. John K Harrelson/Motorsport Images
With nothing physically to do for the transition until the season ended, it was all meetings and planning between the May announcement and the season finale. The thrash began the day after.
“You can have conversations and planning sessions, but you can’t put hands on things and you can’t sit down in formal environments and really open the books up and say, ‘Hey, this is how we’re going to do it at Toyota,’” Cohen explained. “Truly, those things were the Monday after Phoenix, but [there was] a lot of conversation, a lot of internal planning on our part.
“There were some connection points there we could make with how we were going to do things with the competition area, how we’re going to do things on the sales and marketing area. Our group could go out and actively sell that partnership because everyone knew we were going to Toyota. So, I think [the months after the announcement] served a huge advantage for our marketing group and sales group to pitch partnership.
“On the competition side, we still have to go out there and run a Chevrolet and honor all our partnership and like I said that’s what we did. Until the last day, the last hour of that agreement, we were a Chevrolet team.”
On the day of this interview, Cohen had just given back his personal Chevrolet vehicle. Many other employees have done so too, and more and more Toyota-branded vehicles were beginning to appear in the parking lot at the shop.
There are also more people employed there. In addition to taking on its own pit crews, Legacy Motor Club has been able to add more depth to its organization while revamping and restructuring some of its departments.
“Part of that is a direct connection with Toyota – we have responsibilities now and stuff we’re beholden to as a tier one partner with TRD,” Cohen said. “We have an aero department now that has a lead. We have a quality control department that has a staff of four that has a lead. We have somebody that’s directly tied in with software development or engineering technology tools that we’re going to start to take on with Toyota and what they do with that type of stuff.
“We have a simulator that lives here in the shop. Those guys are on that two to three days a week, so that’s a responsibility that needs someone to manage it and operate it. We didn’t have that last year.”
Cohen estimated the organization has grown from 70 or 75 employees to about 115 and he’s confident it’s the right size for a two-car team.
Jimmie Johnson joined the fold ahead of the 2023 season. Nigel Kinrade/Motorsport Images
This is the third iteration of what is now Legacy Motor Club. It was Petty GMS when Gallagher bought the majority of Petty’s operation in December 2021 ahead of the 2022 season, and it became Legacy Motor Club with the addition of Johnson going into the 2023 season. Now comes a Toyota transition, while many other changes have also happened over the last two years. Some have been visible: personnel shuffled and added (i.e., Matt Kenseth and Cal Wells), different drivers (Ty Dillon and Noah Gragson have gone and while John Hunter Nemechek has joined) and crew chief changes.
The season starts in less than a month with a trip west to the L.A. Coliseum for the Busch Light Clash. While the initial thrash of the transition is over, Legacy Motor Club is still in the thick of preparation and will be spending the rest of January building its stable and developing plans on how to hit the ground running as a Toyota team.
“The biggest thing is we’re going to have to be intentional about communication between all of our groups because nobody knows the whys,” Cohen said. “Nobody knows why the Toyota stuff is like this or why the engine group does that. We’re still having calls with Toyota of, ‘Hey, we used to do our stuff this way. Why do y’all do it like this?’ So, we’re walking through it.
“We’re learning every day and everything is new. It’s fun. We’ve not had a boring off-season.”
And there is a lot of anticipation within the race shop to finally get on track.
“I won’t call it nervous energy but there’s a lot of pent-up energy just ready to explode,” Cohen said. “After winning a race in 2022, I think that instilled an amount of confidence in the whole shop that we can do this. Because there was a lot of people who never raced in Cup before in this shop. They never envisioned they could win a Cup race with the vehicles we build here.
“Now, what happened in ’23 was a little out of our control but we’re fine with taking a little pause in this journey and I think now, everyone is looking around like, wow, we have a lot of resources, we have a lot of people here that are really smart and really good. We have great crew chiefs and drivers.
“There are a lot of things happening that everyone is just ready to explode with seeing cars run up front and be in contention for wins. Everybody is kind of anxious right now more than anything.”
Toyota has unveiled its new Toyota Camry XSE race car, which will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series beginning in 2024. Among its characteristics are a new front fascia and upper grille slot. There are new character lines, duct exits on the hood and …
Toyota has unveiled its new Toyota Camry XSE race car, which will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series beginning in 2024.
Among its characteristics are a new front fascia and upper grille slot. There are new character lines, duct exits on the hood and C-shaped corner vents on the larger lower grille area. The front headlights are slimmer and wider and the taillights are thinner.
The newly designed car replicates the 2025 Toyota Camry XSE production car.
“The 2024 Camry XSE race car will properly highlight Toyota’s attention to detail as has been showcased in the new street version Toyota Camry,” said Paul Doleshal, group manager of motorsports, Toyota North America. “We are excited to bring this car to the racetrack and continue to achieve success with it for years to come.
“The amount of work put into this car’s production cannot be overstated, and we thank everyone at TRD and Calty Design for their efforts in creating a premier vehicle for our team partners to compete for wins and championships.”
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Toyota will field eight Cup Series teams next season with the addition of Legacy Motor Club’s two-car organization for Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek joining the stable. Joe Gibbs Racing will continue with its four teams for Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., and Ty Gibbs, and 23XI Racing has two teams with Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.
Toyota won 10 races last season.
“The foundation of Toyota’s presence in NASCAR is our commitment to continuous improvement on and off the racetrack,” said David Wilson, TRD president. “Our Camry XSE race car reinforces that mantra and accurately reflects the key design attributes of the all-new production Toyota Camry. As we prepare for the 2024 season, we look forward to working closely with our race team partners to optimize the performance of the newly-designed Camry race car so we can continue our legacy of leading laps, winning races and competing for championships with the Camry nameplate.”
Two of the three manufacturers in the Cup Series will have a new body style next season. Toyota’s unveiling followed that of Ford with its Dark Horse brand earlier this month.
Chevrolet has chosen not to update its body. The company is still determining its next brand for competition with the impending shuttering of production on the Camaro.
Toyota Gazoo Racing has revealed a revise driver lineup for its 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar program. Nyck de Vries returns to the team to take a spot in the No. 7 GR010 HYBRID alongside Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi in the seat …
Toyota Gazoo Racing has revealed a revise driver lineup for its 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar program. Nyck de Vries returns to the team to take a spot in the No. 7 GR010 HYBRID alongside Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi in the seat previously filled by Jose Maria Lopez.
Lopez, who had been a part of the team since 2017, will move across to the AKKODIS ASP Lexus RC F GT3 effort next season for the debut of the LMGT3 category. Lopez departs the team after a highly-successful stint with Conway and Kobayashi, winning 15 WEC races (including the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans) and claiming two World Endurance Drivers’ Championships in 2019-20 and 2021.
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De Vries, meanwhile, slots into the Hypercar lineup after his partial-season campaign in Formula 1 with AlphaTauri this year.
The Dutchman is no stranger to the FIA WEC, having competed on and off in LMP2 between 2018 and 2021 for Racing Team Nederland and G-Drive Racing. He also filled the role of test and reserve driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the past.
“I am super excited to be returning to endurance racing, especially with Toyota Gazoo Racing,” said De Vries. “Endurance racing is something that I have always enjoyed and it is a discipline with incredible momentum at the moment. I was with the team in a different role for a few years but never got the chance to race, so it is great that the time has now arrived, and I want to thank the team for their continuous support and faith in me.
“I am very much looking forward to sharing car No. 7 with both Mike and Kamui. They are both very talented drivers who achieved a lot, and I am sure we will make a great team.”
Kobayashi, who acts as team principal as well as a driver at TGR in the WEC, thanked Lopez for his efforts behind the wheel with Toyota in the FIA WEC.
“In motorsport, things are constantly evolving and it’s the same with driver line-ups. On car No. 7, Mike, Jose and me drove together since 2017, which is a really long time in any category. We enjoyed some amazing moments together, but also some tough times, particularly at Le Mans. I would like to thank Jose for his massive contribution, as a driver and a teammate. He will always be a part of our Toyota Gazoo Racing family,” Kobayashi, who acts as team principal as well as a driver at TGR in the WEC.
“At the same time, it is exciting to welcome Nyck back to the team as part of the No. 7 crew. We know from his time as our test and reserve driver, plus his other racing, how quick and consistent he is. Next season again we have a top driver line-up in both cars, and this will be important when we face even more competitors in Hypercar. I am sure we will grow stronger together as a team over the winter, ready for the new challenge.”
The No. 8 GR010 HYBRID’s line-up remains unchanged, with Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa returning as a trio in pursuit of their third consecutive World Endurance Drivers’ Championships and second Le Mans victory together.
“I’m delighted to continue with Sebastien and Brendon in the No. 8 car,” remarked Hirakawa, who will fill the role of McLaren F1 reserve driver in 2024 alongside his Hypercar commitments.
“This will be my third season in the team, and my third driving alongside them in the No. 8, and so far it has been a very special experience. We won the drivers’ championship two years in a row, and won Le Mans in 2022, and I am sure there is more to come. Next season will be even more challenging than ever but I am really looking forward to fighting to defend our title and aim for victory at Le Mans.”
Elfyn Evans (above) is poised to deliver Toyota Gazoo Racing its first home WRC after maintaining a commanding lead over teammate Sebastien Ogier on Rally Japan’s penultimate leg. The early lead built by Evans when he dominated Friday’s soaking-wet …
Elfyn Evans (above) is poised to deliver Toyota Gazoo Racing its first home WRC after maintaining a commanding lead over teammate Sebastien Ogier on Rally Japan’s penultimate leg.
The early lead built by Evans when he dominated Friday’s soaking-wet leg of the FIA World Rally Championship’s all-asphalt finale meant he could avoid taking unnecessary risks on the drier, but still treacherously slippery, roads faced on Saturday. It even began to snow at one point late in the day but, to the competitors’ relief, the shower was short lived.
Evans’ vigilant approach in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 allowed Ogier to slash his lead by almost 40 seconds over the course of the day, but the Welshman still has 1m15.0s in hand over the eight-time WRC champ heading into Sunday’s six-stage final leg.
Taking a victory here would be sweet revenge for the 34-year-old Evans after wheel damage in 2022 gifted Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville the victory. Neuville crashed on Friday, restarted the Saturday leg in his repaired i20 N Rally1, but is no longer in contention.
“It’s been pretty OK,” said Evans. “Getting caught in some rain in the penultimate stage was not so nice, and we were maybe too careful in some places, but it was always going to be a bit tricky to judge our speed today with such a big gap.”
Newly-crowned WRC champ Kalle Rovanpera completed a GR Yaris-dominated overnight top three, trailing Ogier by 25.6s at the end of Saturday’s leg. The 23-year-old Finn should have nothing to worry about on Sunday as his closest challenger, Esapekka Lappi, languishes more than one minute behind him in his Hyundai.
Having been hindered by technical gremlins on Friday, Ott Tanak clawed himself and his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 up the leaderboard to reach the overnight halt in fifth overall. But the Estonian, driving his last rally for M-Sport before returning to Hyundai, will be keeping a keen eye on his rear-view mirrors, with Takamoto Katsuta only 14.9s behind.
Ott Tanak has clawed his way to fifth in his final rally in an M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1. M Sport photo
Local hero Katsuta lost a large chunk of time when he crashed his GR Yaris early in the rally, but the Japanese ace has been on an upward trajectory ever since, racking up seven fastest stage times so far.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, newly-crowned champ Andreas Mikkelsen expanded his class lead, but fell down the rally’s overall leaderboard from fourth to seventh as drier conditions allowed the more powerful Rally1 cars to assert themselves.
The Skoda Fabia RS driver is 8.3s ahead of Gregoire Munster’s M-Sport Ford Fiesta MkII. But with Munster not registered for WRC2 points in Japan, Mikkelsen’s nearest competitor for the official class win is fellow Skoda driver Nikolay Gryazin, who sits 43.3s behind.
Newly-crowned WRC2 champ Andreas Mikkelsen extended his class lead on the Japanese asphalt. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Mikkelsen secured the overall WRC2 title at the Central European Rally two weeks ago, and while a victory at this final round of the season would be an additional feather in the Norwegian driver’s cap, he faces no pressure to perform.
“We’ve put on a new setup for tomorrow,” revealed Mikkelsen, “so let’s see how it works and what the day will bring — probably a new big challenge!”
Sunday’s final leg consists of six special stages – a loop of three tests repeated twice — and culminates with the second run through the 4.67-mile Asahi Kougen test as the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.
WRC Rally Japan, positions after Leg Two, SS16
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h28m20.8s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m15.0s
3 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m40.6s
4 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m09.3s
5 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m35.3s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +3m50.3s
7 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +5m11.3s
8 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Fiesta Mk II – WRC2, non-points) +5m19.6s
9 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Sloda Fabia RS – WRC2) +5m54.6s
10 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +12m51.6s
Check out WRC.com, the official home of the FIA World Rally Championship. And for the ultimate WRC experience, sign up for a Rally.TV subscription to watch all stages of every rally live and on demand, whenever and wherever.
Elfyn Evans led Rally Japan by 1m49.9s overnight after streaming-wet conditions in Friday’s opening leg caught out several of his FIA World Rally Championship rivals. Torrential rainfall, thick fog and roads covered with damp leaves were just some …
Elfyn Evans led Rally Japan by 1m49.9s overnight after streaming-wet conditions in Friday’s opening leg caught out several of his FIA World Rally Championship rivals.
Torrential rainfall, thick fog and roads covered with damp leaves were just some of the challenges faced by crews on the first full day of action at the WRC’s 2023 season finale. Survival was the aim of the game and, while several of his rivals faltered, Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1 driver Evans (above) barely put a wheel wrong.
A minor overshoot in the second stage of the day did not prevent the Welshman from reaching the lunchtime service halt with a 26s lead over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, his main rival for the runner-up spot in this year’s drivers’ championship.
Neuville, winner of last year’s Rally Japan, responded in the afternoon’s repeated stages by cutting Evans’ advantage by more than half with a blistering run through Isegami’s Tunnel 2. But his comeback was cut short when he crashed his i20 N Rally1 into a tree on the first corner of the following stage, Inabu Dam 2.
The Belgian wasn’t the only driver to be caught out by the conditions and joined Hyundai teammate Dani Sordo as well as M-Sport Ford Puma Rally 1driver Adrien Fourmaux on the retirements list after both drivers left the road at the same location in the morning’s treacherous opening stage.
Adrien Fourmaux’s M-Sport Ford Puma and Dani Sordo’s Hyundai i20 N found the same picturesque resting place… Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
With Neuville out, Evans had breathing space at the top of the leader board, and with two of his Hyundai rivals sidelined, he heads a GR Yaris podium lockout for Toyota Gazoo Racing.
“It’s been tough, obviously,” confirmed the leader. “This morning, especially, was quite bad — but the afternoon was also not easy to adapt to after going from the zero-grip situation of the morning to having something you can actually drive a bit with.”
After Neuville’s exit, Sebastien Ogier became Evans’ nearest challenger — although the eight-time world champion conceded that catching up with his Toyota teammate would be a tall order.
Ogier, who’s running a part-time WRC program in 2023, slid sideways into a barrier on the afternoon’s opening stage, but was able to continue with minimal time loss. The impact did, however, damage the chassis of his GR Yaris. With the required repairs causing him to check out late from the final service of the day, he collected a one-minute time penalty.
“You are always happy when you survive this kind of day because so many things can happen — and so many things did happen,” Ogier said. “The moment this afternoon cost us a bit of time, but we are happy to still be here because it could have cost us a lot more.”
Running first on the road, newly-crowned WRC champion Kalle Rovanpera was hindered by lingering leaves, so he took a cautious approach in his GR Yaris as he carved a cleaner line for those behind. The 23-year-old Finn’s consistency paid off as he finished the day error free in third overall, just 16.7s back from teammate Ogier.
Two-time and newly-crowned WRC champ Kalle Rovanpera took a cautious approach to hold third overall. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Toyota could have enjoyed a clean sweep of the top-four positions were it not for an error by Takamoto Katsuta on the same corner which caught out Sordo and Fourmaux. His Yaris brushed a tree and sustained radiator damage, but the local star was able to make it back to service after completing the stage in EV mode and carrying out repairs on the liaison section.
That incident, combined with the time penalties for lateness after his roadside fix, cost Katsuta more than four minutes. He languished in ninth overall as a result, although the three fastest stagetimes he posted throughout the day were clear signs of what could have been.
Just ahead of Katsuta, Ott Tanak was eighth on a day which saw his Puma Rally1 plagued by gremlins. Making his last start for M-Sport Ford before returning to Hyundai for 2024, the Estonian dropped almost three minutes when the car’s windows misted up on the day’s second stage and he leaked more time in the afternoon with a performance-sapping electrical issue.
Such was the rate of attrition among the Rally1 entries that several crews from the WRC2 field, the second tier of international rallying, got their chance to shine on the soaking Japanese aspahalt.
Newly-crowned WRC2 champion Andreas Mikkelsen, driving a Rally2-spec Skoda Fabia RS, sat fourth overall at the overnight halt. Behind him was M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster, also competing in Rally2 machinery again after getting behind the wheel of a Rally1 Puma for the previous two WRC rounds.
Mikkelsen and co-driver Torstein Eriksen arrived in Japan under no pressure to perform, having sealed the coveted WRC2 crown two weeks ago at Central European Rally. Nevertheless, the duo led the category by 29.4s at the end of the leg and — even more impressive — sat just 53.6s behind the overall WRC champ, third-placed Rovanpera.
“It’s been a very good day,” said Mikkelsen. “Before lunch we had a good push and after that I tried to drive clever in the afternoon. Tricky conditions, but so far, so good.”
With the pressure off, new WRC2 champ Andreas Mikkelsen mixed it with the Rally1 crews in the torrid conditions. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Munster, who isn’t registered for WRC2 points in Japan, finished the day a mere 4.8s behind Mikkelsen, with Nikolay Gryazin a further 24.6s further back and holding sixth overall in his Skoda.
Making it four Rally2-spec cars in the top 10, former Formula 1 race winner Heikki Kovalainen proved he’s no slouch behind the wheel of a rally car, bringing his ex-Esapekka Lappi Fabia R5 10th overall at the overnight halt.
Saturday is shorter, but certainly no less challenging. Eight stages lie in store with a combined total of 52.62 miles.
WRC Rally Japan, positions after Leg One, SS8
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1h25m22.7s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m49.9s
3 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m06.6s
4 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +3m00.2s
5 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Fiesta Mk II – WRC2, non-points) +3m05.0s
6 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Sloda Fabia RS – WRC2) +3m29.6s
7 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m44.3s
8 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +4m42.8s
9 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +5m07.9s
10 Heikki Kovalainen/Sae Kitagawa (Skoda Fabia – WRC2) +5m56.0s
Check out WRC.com, the official home of the FIA World Rally Championship. And for the ultimate WRC experience, sign up for a Rally.TV subscription to watch all stages of every rally live and on demand, whenever and wherever.
Toyota Gazoo Racing locked out the front row for Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain, the final race of the FIA World Endurance Championship season. Brendon Hartley and Kamui Kobayashi went head to head for pole, with Hartley setting the better lap of the …
Toyota Gazoo Racing locked out the front row for Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain, the final race of the FIA World Endurance Championship season. Brendon Hartley and Kamui Kobayashi went head to head for pole, with Hartley setting the better lap of the two under the floodlights, putting the No. 8 on top by almost half a second with a 1m46.564s.
Crucially, with a point for pole, the No. 8 crew now sit 16 points ahead of the No. 7 trio and Hartley and his crewmates Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa have edged ever closer to the drivers’ title.
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“It’s for the championship!” exclaimed the delighted Hartley. “I had a difficult qualifying in Fuji. And here it felt like I left something on the table but it was clean — nobody is going to do a perfect lap. The car felt awesome.
“We were one of the only cars to qualify on mediums because everyone is so worried about tire deg here. We think we can make them work in the race, if not it could be tricky for us. Sebastien (Buemi) will start tomorrow’s race — he has Turn 1 to think about.”
On the second row of the grid, a head-turning early 1m47.265s flyer from Alex Lynn was good enough to ensure the Cadillac Racing V-Series.R was the fastest LMDh prototype in the session. The Caddy will start third, ahead of the fastest of the Porsche 963s, the No. 6, which will line up fourth.
“I think it was a really positive day,” Lynn said. “Quickest in Free Practice 3, long-run pace looked really strong and consolidated with P3 in qualifying. Really happy for Cadillac Racing.
“The main thing I think is we’re quick on one lap and we’re quick on the long run. I’m proud of our team and motivated to have a good day tomorrow. I’m excited — I think we’re going to have a good one and challenge for the podium.”
It was a tough qualifying for the championship-contending Ferraris, the No. 50 qualifying ahead of the No. 51 in fifth and sixth respectively, both cars over a second off the pole time.
Tom Blomqvist made United Autosports ORECA sing under the lights. Motorsport Images
LMP2 qualifying saw IndyCar-bound Tom Blomqvist boss the session, setting a 1m52.290s to take pole by 0.2s in the No. 23 United Autosports ORECA. Blomqvist’s eventual best time came with three minutes to go, improving on his previous best of 1m52.863s, which was already good enough to put him on provisional pole.
“Fantastic job by the guys — we had some work to do after yesterday, and the No. 23 crew have really put it together. Credit to them,” said Blomqvist. “It’s a pleasure to drive a well-handling race car in qualifying conditions. Really enjoyable, I couldn’t have asked for much more.
“That’s two poles for me this season, and Olly [Jarvis] got the pole in Sebring at the first race of the year. Unfortunately, we’ve had some bad luck along the way in the races, and the championship hasn’t worked out the way we hoped … but tomorrow, we’ll go for the win!”
Joining the No. 23 on the front row will be the No. 36 Alpine ORECA of Charles Milesi, who pushed hard but couldn’t quite edge Blomqvist with his late 1m52.561s. The No. 31 Team WRT ORECA took third, pushing the Vector Sport example, which held the top spot early after Gabriel Aubry’s first push lap, to fourth.
It was a tricky session for Louis Deletraz in the championship-leading No. 41 WRT ORECA. The No. 41 will start the race 10th with a time 1.2s off pole.
A big lap from Sarah Bovy netted the last-ever GTE pole for the Iron Dames team. Motorsport Images
The No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR 19 will start the final GTE race tomorrow from pole position after a stellar 1m58.692s tour of the circuit from Sarah Bovy.
“Once again she did it — we are very proud of her,” said Michelle Gatting, Bovy’s teammate in the Porsche. “It’s important for what we are doing with this project. It’s emotional because of the last race of GTE. It’s not easy — we showed great pace and let’s hope we can finish it.”
Bovy’s time, set with just under five minutes to go, was challenged in the final minutes of the session, but nobody could snatch the top spot from the Belgian, who finishes the season with three pole positions to her name.
Liam Talbot, the late addition to D’Station Racing’s driver lineup, came closest with a 1m58.982s. The time came on his final flying lap, vaulting the No. 777 Vantage from fourth to a spot on the front row.
Talbot’s lap dropped the ORT by TF Sport Aston Martin to third on the grid after Ahmad Al Harthy’s efforts. Takeshi Kimura steered the No. 57 Ferrari to fourth.
Ben Keating, who briefly sat at the top early in the session, will start tomorrow’s race from fifth in the title-winning No. 33 Corvette Racing C8.R.
“More than where we qualified, I’m happy with the lap time.,” Keating said. “That was one second quicker than anything than did in my qualifying simulation. There is so much tire degradation here that it’s a balance between taking care of the tire — because we have to race on these same tires — and trying to hit the peak of the tire.
“I think the reason I was able to put that lap together was because it was my third one and on the peak of the tire. I kept trying to repeat it, and I couldn’t. It just wasn’t there in the tire. It’s really interesting how my two laps that were closest to that were seven-tenths of a second off. It’s worth that much time. I’m happy with the time but also with the result. Tyler (Neff, race engineer) said before qualifying that he thought a top-five result was possible, and he nailed it.”
Tomorrow’s 8 Hours of Bahrain will start at 2pm local time.
The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID topped the first practice session of the 8 Hours of Bahrain weekend, with a 1m49.856s from Kamui Kobayashi. The time was set after a lengthy red-flag stoppage and before heavy rain towards the end of the …
The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID topped the first practice session of the 8 Hours of Bahrain weekend, with a 1m49.856s from Kamui Kobayashi. The time was set after a lengthy red-flag stoppage and before heavy rain towards the end of the running.
The red-flag period was caused by strong winds trackside, light rain and banners being blown onto the track at Turn 1. It lasted 45 minutes and came after the front-running Hypercars had completed a handful of laps. This led to race control extending the session by 45 minutes, to 2:30pm local time.
When the track went green again, the entire field headed straight back out to make the most of the extended session, but that was interrupted again by heavy rain with around 30 minutes remaining. Initially, when the rain arrived, only a handful of cars braved the conditions, with both Toyotas, the No. 51 Ferrari and No. 5 Penske Porsche among the first cars to head back out on wet tires.
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The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari, meanwhile, stopped out on track with WEC newcomer Franck Dezoteux at the wheel shortly after the rain started coming down.
Up front, with no improvements in the closing minutes due to the weather, the No. 8 Toyota ended up second, with a 1m9.960s set by Sebastien Buemi. The No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 came closest to the Toyotas after Gianmaria Bruni completed a 1m50.290s tour of the circuit shortly after the red flag. The No. 6 and No. 5 Penske 963s completed the top five.
Ferrari AF Corse’s 499Ps ended up eighth and ninth, slower than the No. 38 JOTA and No. 2 Cadillac that finished up sixth and seventh.
In LMP2 it was United Autosports’ No. 22 ORECA that ran fastest after Filipe Albuquerque reeled off a 1m54.100s, half a second quicker than the rest of the field. The No. 10 Vector ORECA ended up second, with the No. 31 WRT ORECA third.
D’Station Racing’s No. 777 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE set the pace in GTE Am, after Tomonobu Fujii managed a 1m59.516s. The No. 57 Kessel Ferrari slotted in second, while the GR Racing Porsche took third making it three manufacturers in the top three.
Free Practice 2 is set to get underway at 5:30pm local time.
