Victory At The Double For Toyota Racing At Spa

Second consecutive WEC win for the Toyota TS040 Hybrid

Toyota Racing continued their winning start to the FIA World Endurance Championship with victory in the second race of the season at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Saturday (3 May). The early results give the team a great platform on which to build their campaign to win the Le Mans 24 Hours next month.

Once again British driver Anthony Davidson was on the top step of the podium, bringing home the No8 Toyota TS040 Hybrid in first place with team-mates Nicolas Lapierre and Sébastien Buemi. Toyota extended its lead in the manufacturers’ championship, with the No7 car of Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Kazuki Nakajima finishing third.

The Davidson/Lapierre/Buemi car qualified second on the grid and held the position until Buemi – driving the second stint – claimed the lead following his first pit stop. Davidson brought the Toyota TS040 Hybrid home more than a minute clear of the highest placed Audi and posted the fastest lap of the race.

He said: “This season is the first time I have ever led a world championship. And to win again here was fantastic. Sébastien did a lot of the hard work in the difficult middle part of the race so when I got in it was pretty much job done. It’s great we got two cars on to the podium again.

“Now our attention has to turn to the big one in June. I am so confident in the package we have and the team around us; it really feels like we are flourishing at the right time.”

The Le Mans 24 Hours preparations will continue with official testing on 1 June, followed by the race itself two weeks later.