Terrific Texas fight back from TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing suffered an agonising near-miss in the Lone Star Le Mans when a harsh penalty denied it victory in round six of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

The team bounced back from a difficult qualifying by maximising the performance of its GR010 HYBRIDs and implementing a smart tyre strategy – combined with flat-out driving, fast pit stops and a united team effort – to fight for victory.

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries fought through the field with a perfect performance and looked set to win. However, a late penalty for a yellow flag incident – which the team’s data indicates was repeated by its direct competitors who went unpunished – changed race result and left the #7 GR010 HYBRID crew second.

World Champions Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa had been set for a top-six finish in the #8 GR010 HYBRID after a similarly strong performance but suffered an incident in the fifth hour and they finished 15th.

Despite the frustration, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing nevertheless moves into the lead of the manufacturers’ World Championship heading into its home race, the 6 Hours of Fuji, on 15 September, with an 11-point advantage over Porsche.

The team was able to fight at the front thanks to an attacking strategy which took the fight to competitors who had shown quicker pace earlier in the week.

Mike started ninth in the #7 and survived contact on the opening lap to move up the field, including a spectacular overtake on lap eight when he passed two cars in one manoeuvre to take sixth place. Meanwhile, Brendon started from 12th in the #8 and ran there throughout the opening stint.

Mike’s pace moved him into the podium fight, and he was sixth, just a few seconds away from third, heading into the first pit stops at the one-hour mark. Nyck and Sébastien resumed the challenge and continued to push hard to improve their positions.

The hot conditions took their toll on some Hypercar rivals and, when Mike returned to the wheel early in the third hour, the #7 was in second thanks to a storming stint from Nyck, with Ryo now eighth. As half distance approached, Mike increased the pace, setting a new fastest lap as he closed on the leading #83 Ferrari.

At half distance, further driver changes saw Nyck and Brendon resume, in second and seventh respectively. Nyck closed to the rear of the leader midway through the fourth hour while Brendon was pushing the #6 Porsche, and he made a brave move to take sixth.

An aggressive strategy call brought the #7 into the pits slightly early at the end of the fourth hour, giving Kamui clear air and a chance to take the lead. That paid off when the #83 emerged from its own pit stop a lap later, two seconds behind Kamui.

After another driver change, Sébastien was defending sixth place on his out lap when he made contact with the #6 Porsche, causing a puncture and earning a 30-second stop-go penalty. The car’s chances were further hampered by another penalty for not respecting blue flags and Sébastien resumed in 15th.

After a final pit stop, Kamui was comfortably clear at the front until, with 40 minutes remaining, a race-deciding drive-through penalty – when stewards judged he did not respond appropriately to a yellow flag –dropped him to second, nine seconds behind the #83 Ferrari.

Kamui pushed hard to recover the time lost, not helped by a full course yellow, but fell just short and he crossed the line in second, just 1.780secs behind the winning #83 Ferrari. Meanwhile, Ryo brought the #8 home in 15th in front of more than 65,000 fans.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “The team did a perfect job and made a big effort. We did everything that we could in terms of driving, strategy and pit stops which put us in a position to win. But the penalty was unfortunate and a big surprise for me to be honest. To get a drive-through penalty for that is a bit of a surprise, but that’s how it is. The race was quite fun, and I enjoyed racing back here in Austin; it’s a great track. Now I am looking forward to continuing the very close battle this season at our home race.”

Mike Conway (Driver, car #7): “Coming into the race we didn’t feel like we had a chance of winning but as the race evolved, we had strong pace; every stint we seemed to be gaining with good tyre wear and consistency. We ended up in a fight and we thought we were going to win, but unfortunately the penalty killed our chance, although Kamui fought all the way to the end. It was a great job by everyone, from the engineers, the pit crew and my team-mates. The result is better than expected and we scored good points for the championship so we will keep pushing and go to Fuji hoping for a positive result.”

Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7): “I would like to thank the team for their amazing job throughout the weekend, especially in the race. They nailed all the calls, all the pit stops and executed a faultless race. I think we all did a great job, but unfortunately the drive-through took away our win. We still need to investigate it because it’s not fully clear yet. Nevertheless, it is a strong result for the team and the World Championship, it’s just bitter-sweet to miss out on the win when it was in the pocket.”

Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “I would like to apologise to the team for the contact I had with the Porsche. It was my fault and I’m sorry for that because obviously that effectively ended our race. Up until then the team had done a fantastic job to help us recover from starting down in 12th, so it feels really difficult to let the team down. I hope we can have a better race in Fuji. Congratulations to car #7 for a great performance, it’s just a pity they got this penalty at the end.”

Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “It was a tough day. We started towards the back, but we were coming through the field until Séb made a little mistake, which can happen. The team put in a really impressive performance in a hard situation and I’m really proud of everyone for their work. Car #7 drove an amazing race; the strategy, pit stops, everything was top notch today. They would have won without the penalty. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way on car #8 but we will fight back at our home race in Fuji.”

Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “That was a difficult race and it’s a pity because we had shown strong pace to come back through the field and fight in the top six, but the accident was unfortunate. It was the same frustration for car #7; they drove really well and could have won the race. That’s part of racing and we have to move on. The next one is our home race so we need to refocus for Fuji when hopefully we can achieve a one-two. It would be nice to do that in front of our home fans.”

Lone Star Le Mans – Result: