Imola victory for Toyota Gazoo Racing

Toyota Gazoo Racing returned to winning ways and conquered a dramatic 6 Hours of Imola after an incredible team effort in the second round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) on Sunday (21 April).

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries took a tense victory in the No7 GR010 Hybrid in changing weather conditions thanks to faultless driving and intelligent strategy on a day of twists and turns among the 19-strong Hypercar field.

Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa completed a successful day for the team by making up positions during the race to finish a strong fifth in their No8 GR010 Hybrid.

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s first victory of the season closed the gap to Porsche to just nine points in the Manufacturers’ World Championship heading to round three at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on 11 May. The No7 crew are now second in the drivers’ standings, 16 points behind the leaders.

Having started sixth, Conway showed his fighting spirit in the opening laps when he made a move for fifth. But, on the narrow track, overtaking was very difficult, something Buemi also discovered from eighth.

The team used smart strategy and pace around their perfectly executed pit stops to gain positions. Conway moved into the top three before handing the No7 to de Vries at the first driver changes, around the two-hour mark. Buemi was also on the move so Hirakawa was able to take over the No8 in fifth.

de Vries put intense pressure on the leading Ferrari pair before rain and different strategies in the fourth hour threw the race wide open. He made an opportunistic move to take second immediately following a full course yellow and moments later took the lead when the No51 Ferrari pitted, just prior to a safety car.

Rain intensified during the safety car period, particularly in the final sector. When the green flags waved, the GR010 Hybrids struggled for grip on the wet track and immediately pitted for wet tyres. It proved to be a masterstroke and both cars soon lapped significantly faster than their Hypercar rivals.

After most Hypercars also pitted for wet tyres, Kobayashi emerged into a lead of more than 20 seconds and Hartley was up to third as the race entered its final 90 minutes.

With one hour remaining, both cars made their penultimate pit stops and reverted to slick Michelin tyres. Other rivals pitted as well and Kobayashi returned to the front, leading a pair of Porsches, while Hartley twice crossed gravel traps on his out laps as the tyres struggled to come up to temperature on the damp track. Finally on hot tyres, he put in a string of fast laps to move up to fourth, and closed on the third-placed No5. But with less fuel on board than their rivals, both GR010 Hybrids had to drive efficiently going into the final 30 minutes, setting up a tense showdown for victory.

Kobayashi fought valiantly to hold on to the lead under intense pressure to win in Italy for the second successive season, by 7.081secs from the No6 Porsche. Hartley and the No8 crew had to settle for fifth place after being overtaken by the No50 Ferrari on the final lap.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car No7): “It was a very tough race and to win here is phenomenal. Our car was not the fastest this week but the team performed so well. Mike and Nyck both did a fantastic job to bring the car into contention before I took over. There was big pressure from the start of my stint; I was in the lead on slick tyres in the rain. We made the right call to switch tyres and build a gap, then we kept good pace on the wet tyres. We were not sure about fuel so we started to save energy and I gave everything. It was very tough. The team did a great effort in terms of strategy and that gave us the chance to fight for the win.”

Mike Conway (driver, car No7): “It was really tense all the way to the end. Kamui did a great job at the end to stay ahead whilst saving energy. As always, the pressure doesn’t affect him. I think my heart rate in the garage was higher than his in the car. Nyck did a stellar stint as well. I had a lot of fun and I enjoyed my first time racing here. The crew did a great job in the pits and the strategy couldn’t have been any better.”

Nyck de Vries (driver, car No7): “It’s great to be back on the top step of the podium; it’s been a while for me. I am very happy and proud to share the car with Kamui and Mike, so I really want to thank them and the whole team for their outstanding job. The performance was phenomenal, all the strategy calls were correct, every stint was strong, and no one put a foot wrong. They executed the race perfectly and I think we really deserve this victory.”

Sébastien Buemi (driver, car No8): “Obviously for the team it is a fantastic comeback, from the challenges we faced in Qatar to winning here. We had a difficult race. Starting eighth made my stint more challenging because it was difficult to overtake. We made up positions and we were in the fight for the podium. I’m a bit disappointed the result is not better but it’s a great day for the team and we will work hard to come back stronger in Spa.”

Brendon Hartley (driver, car No8): “Massive congratulations to the team for taking a victory here on Ferrari’s home turf. They were clearly faster but car No7 played the right cards at the right moment and drove well to finish on top. It was a tougher day for us in car No8. We were very close to the podium places and I loved driving around here. In the final stint we had to save energy and we lost a position on the last lap which was frustrating. It was not the result we wanted but it was an amazing team performance.”

Ryo Hirakawa (driver, car No8): “I don’t think any of us expected to win the race but the team delivered a great performance and extracted everything from the car, so I am very happy. In our car it was a bit disappointing to lose fourth on the last lap but that can happen in racing. We need to take it and return stronger in the next races.”

 6 Hours of Imola – Race Result

1          No7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing                                             205 laps

2          No6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor)                     +7.081secs       

3          No5 Porsche Penske (Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki)            +25.626secs

4          No50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen)                     +31.469secs

5          ​​No8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing                                             +33.777secs

6          No20 BMW M Team WRT (Van der Linde/Frijns/Rast)         +1 lap

ENDS