Toyota starts again from Imola with the clear aim of quickly forgetting the opening round in Lusail FIA World Endurance Championship. Tire degradation was just one of the many problems plaguing Japanese cars in the Middle East, evidence that saw Porsche’s first sharp turn in the Hypercar era.
Top3 reachable for Toyota?
Kamui Kobayashi/Nick De Vries/Mike Conway #7 and Ryo Hirakawa/Sébastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley #8 are ready to resume Top3, minimum placing consistently obtained by 6h of Silverstone 2018 to the 1812km of Qatar 2024. The test in the Bel Paese therefore marks a real starting point for the entire program of the Asian manufacturer, a test towards the commitment next June at Le Mans.
Indeed, Toyota wishes to regain its throne in the most important automotive competition in the world, too important a result that deserves special attention. The GR010 Hybrid has achieved every high point in recent months, but the defeat on the ‘Sarthe Circuit’ is a wound that still remains open after years of supremacy.
Toyota ready for the first European stage
Sébastien Buemi, who spoke to our microphones on the eve of the weekend, he faces the Imola stage with uncertainty, a weekend that could be characterized by the arrival of rain.
I have few memories of Imola, I don’t think I’ve ever ridden except for a test carried out with an F1 many years ago. Currently it is difficult to predict how the weekend could go, compared to Qatar the circuit should adapt better to our characteristics. Traffic will undoubtedly be a variable to take into consideration, in the end we have a good car that we can count on. I hope it doesn’t rain for the weekend, it would be a shame for the public to have bad weather. Compared to last season the car has changed little, the regulations do not allow the car to be significantly updated.
The Swiss who raced at Misano last week in the Italian challenge of the ABB Formula E World Championship continued by saying:
We expected a similar performance in Qatar, we knew it would be a complicated weekend. We managed to collect points in Lusail, we are quite happy with what we collected despite a very low top speed. We will now see how things will go in view of Le Mans. We have some tests planned for the 24h, but Spa is close after the Imola stage. We have little time left.”
From Imola – Luca Pellegrini
