In contrast to a dominant win in Brazil last year, the World Champions faced difficulties since opening practice, and pre-race expectations were correspondingly limited. Despite a strong team effort, consistent driving and clean pit stops, both GR010 HYBRIDs finished out of the top 10 due to performance and speed deficits.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, driving the #7 GR010 HYBRID, took the chequered flag in 14th. Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa – racing as a two-car crew due to Sébastien Buemi’s other racing commitments – finished 15th in their #8 GR010 HYBRID.
That disappointing result means TOYOTA GAZOO Racing misses out on World Championship points for the first time since the 6 Hours of Silverstone in 2018, a remarkable run of 44 consecutive points finishes in races.
The race began late on a sunny morning with Brendon and Mike starting from 10th and 18th respectively. Both used a mix of medium and hard Michelin tyres and initially made some progress. But they lacked pace as the opening stint wore on and, at the first pit stops around the one-hour mark, both were out of the top 10.
Consistent pace on old tyres helped edge both cars slightly closer to the points prior to the first driver changes, which came after two hours and saw Nyck take over the #7 while Ryo took the wheel of the #8. On new medium tyres they never gave up and set their cars’ fastest laps as half distance approached.
But the challenge was proving too great and, despite overtaking the #009 Aston Martin late in the fourth hour, the top 10 was out of reach. Nevertheless, at the next driver changes early in hour five, Kamui and Brendon resumed the fight before the race was briefly interrupted for an unusual reason, when a kite had to be removed from the start-finish straight.
The last pit stops came early in the final hour and saw Kamui remain in the #7 while Ryo took over the #8. As the sun set, they were running just a few seconds apart in 14th and 15th respectively and they took the chequered flag together in that order, three laps behind the winning Cadillac.
The WEC summer break now offers an opportunity to assess a challenging weekend and return stronger for the sixth round of the season, Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on 7 September.
