Toyota

Toyota dominates in the second practice of 6 Hours of Fuji

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Toyota remained on top in the second practice for this weekend’s 6 Hours of Fuji round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. On Friday afternoon, the top two spots were once again held by the Japanese manufacturer, with Kamui Kobayashi setting the fastest time in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid. Kobayashi started the practice with what turned out to be the benchmark time of 1m29.948s, clocking in more than a second faster than Sebastien Buemi had done in the sister #8 Toyota earlier in the day. The #8 car, which is Toyota’s better-placed vehicle in the drivers’ standings, was Kobayashi’s main rival in the hands of Brendon Hartley as it was 0.225s off the benchmark time. Loic Duval’s handling of the #94 car, one of Peugeot’s two new 9X8 Le Mans Hypercars, put it in third place overall. His best performance of 1m31.194s was three tenths faster than either Peugeot had set in FP1, but it still put the French manufacturer 1.246 seconds behind the leader. Nicolas Lapierre’s Alpine A480 grandfathered LMP1 vehicle, which now leads the points standings, was fourth fastest and 1.414 seconds slower than the leaders with the #93 Peugeot driven by Jean-Eric Vergne following in fifth place. The LMP2 division was dominated by JOTA’s pair of Oreca 07s, with Antonio Felix da Costa’s early time of 1m32.351s putting the #38 car in first place. The second-placed sister #28 car in the hands of Ed Jones followed just 0.142 seconds behind as the fastest United Autosports Oreca, driven by Filipe Albuquerque finished third. The Pro/Am AF Corse Oreca was the fourth-fastest in the hands of Nicklas Nielsen as Robin Frijns’ WRT Oreca finished fifth. Ferrari continued to dominate GTE Pro as the #51 488 GTE Evo once again topped the timesheets. In the last few seconds of the session, Gianmaria Bruni recorded the fastest time in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19, which Alessandro Pier Guidi beat by 0.164 seconds with his best time of 1m37.682s. Kevin Estre’s #92 Porsche finished in third place, 0.769s off the lead, and was followed by Miguel Molina’s #52 Ferrari and Tommy Milner’s sole Corvette C8.R. Michelle Gatting, driving an Iron Dames Ferrari, finished first in GTE Am with a timing of 1m39.170s, which was 0.015s faster than both the TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE driven by Marco Sorensen and the sister Iron Lynx Ferrari driven by former Formula 1 racer Giancarlo Fisichella which tied of lap times.

Al Attiyah maintains lead after winning Stage 1, bad day for Audi

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Nasser Al-Attiyah of Toyota strolled to victory on the first stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally, while Audi’s electric RS Q e-tron competitor had a dreadful day. Al-Attiyah was under heavy pressure from the three Audis during the first half of the 333km special near Ha’il, Saudi Arabia, with the German marque’s lead runner Stephane Peterhansel only six seconds behind him after the first 120km. However, en route to the following waypoint, Audi’s issues began to unravel, with 14-time Dakar winner Peterhansel becoming the first to drop out after sustaining serious damage to his RS Q e-tron in a crash. The Frenchman had been waiting for help vehicles to arrive to repair the damage for more than four hours, with the back axle fractured and the left-rear suspension badly damaged. However, Audi’s problems did not end there, as Carlos Sainz Sr soon lost more than two hours searching for a difficult checkpoint near the finish of the stage, after falling six minutes behind the leaders due to unrelated issues earlier in the day. With Mattias Ekstrom in the third Audi slipping behind as the stage drew to a close, Al-Attiyah was able to expand his lead in the leading Toyota, finally winning by a respectable margin of 12m44s. Due to Audi’s problems, rally great Sebastien Loeb jumped to second place overall, spearheading the charge for the Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme team. In the later half of the stage, Loeb and Al-Attiyah were the only two frontrunners to cross the correct checkpoint on the first attempt. This allowed the duo to establish a significant lead after the first stage, with Benzina Ford’s Martin Prokop finishing over 10 minutes behind them. Lucio Alvarez (Overdrive Toyota), Vladimir Vasilyev (VRT BMW), and Sebastian Halpern (X-raid Mini) finished fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, while Giniel de Villiers (Toyota Factory Racing) finished seventh. The top ten was completed by Jakub Przygonski (Orlen Mini), Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Overdrive Toyota), and five-time bikes champion Cyril Despres (GPX Peugeot). Nani Roma (Prodrive), the 2014 event winner, was classified 23rd after losing a significant amount of time due to navigational troubles of his own, three places ahead of Ekstrom’s best Audi. Sainz is currently ranked 32nd overall, having finished the stage 2h07m behind winner Al-Attiyah. After a puncture at the 142km mark, Toyota driver Henk Lategan had yet to complete the stage at the time of writing. Dakar Rally 2022 Stage 1 results: Pos # Driver/co-driver Team Time Gap 1 201 N. AL-ATTIYAH (QAT)M. BAUMEL (AND) TOYOTA GAZOO RACING 03:30:53   2 211 S. LOEB (FRA)F. LURQUIN (BEL) BAHRAIN RAID XTREME 03:43:37 00:12:44 3 209 M. PROKOP (CZE)V. CHYTKA (CZE) BENZINA ORLEN TEAM 03:53:32 00:22:39 4 222 L. ALVAREZ (ARG)A. MONLEON (ESP) OVERDRIVE TOYOTA 03:58:35 00:27:42 5 208 V. VASILYEV (RAF)O. UPERENKO (LVA) VRT TEAM 03:59:51 00:28:58 6 223 S. HALPERN (ARG)B. GRAUE (ARG) X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM 04:00:30 00:29:37 7 207 G. DE VILLIERS (ZAF)D. MURPHY (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO RACING 04:04:26 00:33:33 8 203 J. PRZYGONSKI (POL)T. GOTTSCHALK (DEU) ORLEN TEAM 04:12:44 00:41:51 9 205 Y. AL RAJHI (SAU)M. ORR (GBR) OVERDRIVE TOYOTA 04:14:33 00:43:40 10 221 O. TERRANOVA (ARG)D. OLIVERAS CARRERAS (ESP) BAHRAIN RAID XTREME 04:20:20 00:49:27 11 218 Y. SEAIDAN (SAU)A. KUZMICH (RAF) X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM 04:22:26 00:51:33 12 204 N. ROMA (ESP)A. HARO BRAVO (ESP) BAHRAIN RAID XTREME 04:49:27 01:18:34

Toyota #8 wins 8 Hours of Bahrain as sister car #7 wins 2021 Championship title

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Toyota Gazoo Racing wrapped up the FIA World Endurance Championship season with a dominant 1-2 run in Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain that saw the No. 8 crew of Brendon Hartley, Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi win the race and No. 7 car of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez crowned world drivers’ champions. Nakajima, in his final race with the Japanese manufacturer, drove the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid to a 7.351-second victory over the sister entry, brought to the checkered flag by Lopez. It gave Toyota a clean sweep of wins in the WEC season, in another commanding race after the No. 36 Signatech-run Alpine A480 Gibson battled gearbox issues early on. Nico Lapierre dashed into the lead in the grandfathered LMP1 car at the start until Conway took over point on Lap 8, in what quickly turned into another Toyota affair with the two cars exchanging the lead. Lapierre’s trip to the garage, which cost the Alpine three laps in the opening hour, handed a clear-sailing win to Toyota. Other minor setbacks saw Lapierre and co-drivers Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere finish six laps behind the race-winning No. 7 machine. Team WRT claimed the LMP2 world title with its third consecutive class win with drivers Robin Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi, which enjoyed an equally dominant race. Audi Sport factory driver Frijns took the No. 31 Oreca 07 Gibson to 1 minute and 14.320-second win over the No. 38 JOTA entry of Antonio Felix Da Costa, Roberto Gonzalez and Anthony Davidson in second. The No. 28 JOTA Oreca of Tom Blomqvist emerged in second following the final round of stops ahead of Da Costa, who got around the sister car with three minutes to go. Davidson, in his final race in professional competition, overcame an unexpected trip down pit lane and a subsequent drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Filipe Albuquerque drove the No. 22 United Autosports entry to a fourth place class finish, ahead of the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca, which completed the top-five. LMP2 Pro-Am honors went to the No. 29 Racing Team Nederland entry of Frits van Eerd, Giedo van der Garde and Job van Uitert, which finished sixth among the LMP2 entries. Van Eerd, meanwhile, claimed the sub-class championship as a solo driver. Ferrari Provisionally Wins GTE-Pro Title in Dramatic Finale Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado have provisionally claimed the GTE drivers’ world championship in a dramatic conclusion that saw contact between the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE and the then-class leading No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Michael Christensen in the final 15 minutes. Christensen spun as a result of the contact, with race control ordering Pier Guidi, with a damaged nose, to give the position back, which he did not as the the Porsche pitted for fuel with ten minutes to go. Pier Guidi crossed the line ahead of Christensen by 3.249 seconds, with no further decisions having been made as of the time of this writing. It has provisionally given Ferrari the GTE world manufacturers’ title as well. The No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari completed the class podium followed by the No. 91 Porsche, which lost time due to a pit stop infringement and a left-rear wheel issue in the final three hours. GTE-Am class and championship honors went to the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari trio of Nicklas Nielsen, Alessio Rovera and Francois Perrodo. Nielsen finished 1 lap ahead of the No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Matt Campbell in the race, which was largely dominated by the Italian Ferrari squad. The No. 56 Team Project 1 Porsche completed the class podium after overcoming a 1 minute stop-and-hold penalty in the fourth hour for “putting a marshal in danger” during the race’s third Full Course Yellow. Riccardo Pera held second in class until a final lap pass by Campbell for position. It marked back-to-back class titles for Ferrari factory driver Nielsen and Perrodo, with the Frenchman claiming his third outright GTE-Am championship. A challenge from the No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE, which entered the race with a chance of the class title, started to unravel on the opening lap when Ben Keating and the No. 98 Northwest AMR entry of Paul Dalla Lana made contact, resulting in punctures for both cars. Keating later suffered an incident with the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari of Thomas Flohr that resulted in suspension damage and eventual retirement.

Brendon Hartley tops 8 Hours of Bahrain final practice with #8 Toyota

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Brendon Hartley got the better of Kamui Kobayashi as Toyota undertook qualification simulations in final practice for this weekend’s FIA Bahrain World Endurance Championship finale. Hartley outpaced Kobayashi by four tenths when the Toyota GR010 Hybrids went out on new Michelin tyres right at the start of the one-hour Free Practice 3 session. The New Zealander knocked six tenths off his first time on his second flying lap in the #7 Toyota to end up on a 1m48.346s. Kobayashi set an unrepresentative time on his first flier, before posting a 1m48.777s aboard the #8 car. The Alpine A480-Gibson, the only other car in the Hypercar class, trailed the Toyotas and the fastest two LMP2 cars in fifth overall. Andre Negrao set a 1m51.794s shortly before the session was red-flagged while a corner bollard was replaced at Turn 9. Antonio Felix da Costa and Filipe Albuquerque both went faster than the Alpine grandfathered LMP1 car in their Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 cars. Da Costa’s 1m51.188s in the best of the JOTA team’s two entries gave him a three tenth margin over the 1m51.524s from Albuquerque in the United Autosports car. A 1m52.059s lap gave Tom Blomqvist third in class in the second JOTA entry, while Sophia Floersch was fourth in the Signatech-run Richard Mille Racing Oreca with a time of 1m52.681s. Fastest in the Pro/Am P2 subclass was Realteam Racing’s Norman Nato with a 1m52.758s. Kevin Estre was fastest in GTE Pro for Porsche with a 1m56.590s, which gave him a one tenth margin over Gianmaria Bruni in the other Porsche 911 RSR-19. The Ferraris, which has received a new Balance of Performance for this weekend’s eight-hour race, took third and fourth positions. James Calado took third in the first of the AF Corse-run 488 GTE Evos with a 1m58.411s, while Daniel Serra was a tenth further back in fourth on 1m58.519s. Matteo Cairoli was quickest in GTE Am for the Project 1 Porsche squad after leapfrogging AF Corse Ferrari driver Nicklas Nielsen. The session was extended as a result of the red flag, which lasted approximately nine minutes.

Kamui Kobayashi leads with #7 Toyota in the 6 Hours of Bahrain FP2

Kevin Peterson05 mins

After Sebastien Buemi topped the timesheets in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid on Thursday, Kobayashi struck back in FP2 on Friday morning to put the points-leading #7 car ahead of its main championship rival with a time of 1m49.063s. The Japanese driver was quick out of the gates at the 5.4km circuit, clocking the fastest time of the weekend so far on his first flying lap at the beginning of the 90-minute session. The #8 Toyota ended up only 0.030s behind the sister car, courtesy of a 1m49.093s flyer set by Buemi’s team-mate Brendon Hartley early on. However, both these times were still seven second slower than what Toyota managed in the corresponding session in Bahrain last year, when the TS050 Hybrid made its farewell appearance in the WEC. Alpine was again unable to match the two Toyotas up front, with Matthieu Vaxiviere managing a best time of 1m50.194s in the #36 A480-Gibson. The gap between the lead Toyota and the sole Alpine doubled to 1.131s in FP2 after Nicolas Lapierre finished just over half a second behind Buemi in Thursday’s opening practice. However, Toyota didn’t exactly have a smooth session, with Buemi colliding with the #85 Iron Lynx Ferrari of Sarah Bovy at Turn 1 in the final 30 minutes, bringing out the sole red flag of the session. In LMP2, Tom Blomqvist put the points-leading #28 JOTA ORECA on top with a time of 1m50.199s, leading the #22 United Autosports ORECA of Filipe Albuquerque by a massive eight tenths of a second. The #31 Team WRT ORECA was third in the hands of Charles Milesi, while ARC Bratislava was classified fourth – and the best among the Pro-Am entrants – courtesy of Oliver Webb’s time of 1m51.382s in the #44 ORECA. Porsche maintained its lead over Ferrari in the GTE Pro division, with Kevin Estre clocking the quickest time in the #92 911 RSR-19. Estre’s lap of 1m56.411s was just over two tenths faster than what Gianmaria Bruni managed in the sister #91 Porsche and nearly three seconds up on the lead Ferrari, the #51 AF Corse 488 GTE driven by James Calado. Miguel Molina was last of the class runners in the #52 Ferrari. The two AF Corse-run Ferrari GTE Pro entries have received a major Balance of Performance hit for the final two rounds of the season in Bahrain, robbing the car of 25bhp in comparison with the Monza race in July. The Italian marque claims these changes were made outside of the WEC’s auto BoP system, which applies to every round except the Le Mans 24 Hours. Team Project 1 led the way in GTE Am courtesy of Matteo Cairoli’s time of 1m58.015s in the #56 Porsche. The #33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage finished second with Felipe Fraga at the wheel, while the top three was rounded by the Dempsey Proton team – with Matt Campbell setting the quickest time aboard the #77 Porsche.