TOYOTA GAZOO Racing welcomed a trio of new faces to the cockpit of the GR010 HYBRID for the traditional end-of-season rookie test at Bahrain International Circuit.
Just hours after ending the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season with a one-two victory to complete a manufacturers’ and drivers’ title double, the team was back in action for five hours of testing with the #7 GR010 HYBRID.
Rising American driver Josh Pierson, 17, was selected by WEC to be the series’ official Hypercar rookie as a reward for strong performances in LMP2, which saw him finish the season fifth alongside his #23 United Autosports team-mates.
Joining him behind the wheel of the GR010 HYBRID were a pair of endurance racing champions. British drivers Ben Barnicoat, 26, and Jack Hawksworth, 32, won the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Pro title at the wheel of a Lexus RC F GT3 from Vasser Sullivan Racing.
All three Hypercar rookies prepared for the test with time on the driving simulator at the team’s base in Cologne, Germany last month. Within the first few minutes of the morning session all got their first taste of the real GR010 HYBRID via a single installation lap.
Longer stints soon followed and the three newcomers spent around 20 minutes each behind the wheel in the two-hour morning session, completing 10 laps apiece.
After a break for lunch and engineering debriefs, the day resumed with a three-hour test in the afternoon which saw all three Hypercar rookies clock up more laps. Josh completed two further 10-lap stints to take his total laps to 30, while both Ben and Jack did single 10-lap runs.
The conclusion of the rookie test marks the end of the official track action for the 2023 WEC season. Preparations for next year will now intensify at the Higashi-Fuji and Cologne technical centres as the team gets ready to defend its World Championships against an even bigger grid of Hypercar manufacturers.
