TOYOTA GAZOO Racing won the 6 Hours of São Paulo to ignite its 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) title challenge on a dramatic day at Interlagos
At the scene of Toyota’s first-ever hybrid-powered WEC victory in 2012, World Champions Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa earned their first win of the season in the #8 GR010 HYBRID in front of a passionate 73,205 Brazilian crowd.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, in the pole position-winning #7 GR010 HYBRID, were on course for victory until a long pit stop for a technical issue dropped them down the field. However, a stunning fight back delivered fourth place and 12 valuable World Championship points.
A hard-earned second victory of the year, courtesy of flawless driving, strong team work and a superior tyre strategy, earned maximum points for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing and reduced the gap to leaders Porsche to only four points in the manufacturers’ standings with three races remaining in the season.
For the first time since Bahrain last November, an all-Toyota front row led the field away at the start. Mike made a clean getaway and began building a cushion over the chasing pack. Brendon recovered after running wide into the first turn and settled into second.
Mike took care to preserve his medium compound tyres in hot temperatures on the abrasive Interlagos track surface and plotted a safe course through the traffic. In the opening hour he built an 11-second advantage over Brendon, who was successfully holding the #5 Porsche at arm’s length.
The #7 was still comfortably in control at the 90-minute mark but suffered its first blow when a drive-through penalty for a full course yellow infringement wiped out Mike’s advantage. A more significant issue came early in the third hour when repairs were needed on a control unit and Nyck resumed in 18th.
By then Ryo was at the wheel of the #8 to take up the team’s victory challenge and he soon moved to the front. By half distance he had extended his lead to 30secs and he pitted for new Michelin tyres on the right-hand side only; a strategy to maintain tyre temperature and manage degradation.
Ryo put in a fast stint on his Interlagos debut to build a lead of over 40 seconds going into the final two hours before handing over to Sébastien. Nyck’s battling performance brought the #7 back into the fight for points and Kamui took the wheel for the final two stints.
Sébastien maintained the #8’s consistent speed at the front, making a final fuel stop with an hour remaining and resuming with a clear lead. He protected that until the chequered flag, finishing 1min 8.811secs ahead of the #6 Porsche.
The #7’s determined fight back continued until the flag and Kamui hunted down the #51 Ferrari in the closing laps, forcing his way past with a breathtaking overtake for fourth place inside the last five minutes.
After a productive visit to South America, the team’s bid to retain its World Championship titles moves to North America for the next race, when the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas hosts the Lone Star Le Mans on 1 September.
6 Hours of São Paulo – Result
1st #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 236 laps
2nd #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) +1min 8.811secs
3rd #5 Porsche Penske (Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki) +1min 15.993secs
4th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1min 23.571secs
5th #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi) +1min 27.395secs
6th #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) +1 lap
