Toyota Gazoo Racing wins 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

MANILA: After a thrilling, weather-affected 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Toyota Gazoo Racing took its first victory at the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season.

Surviving a tough battle with Hypercar competitors as well as the harsh Ardennes weather, world champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez, piloting the #7 GR010 Hybrid, dominated round two of the 2022 season, the final event before the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The team celebrated its sixth straight victory at Spa-Francorchamps, with the #7 recovering from an accident at Sebring to make it seven wins out of eight races since the GR010 Hybrid debuted at Spa in 2021.

Only one GR010 Hybrid managed to cross the checkered flag at Spa. Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa were setting the pace with their #8 car before it was forced to retire after 90 minutes due to a problem with the hybrid system.

The #8 had a strong start to the race, advancing from fourth on the grid to second on the first lap. Conway was close behind in third, losing a position when he was hemmed in at the first corner's exit.

The GR010 Hybrids took the lead on lap 16, passing the race-leading Glickenhaus on the same lap. Buemi took the lead in the #8, but the race suddenly changed as rain started pouring at the hour mark, followed by a red flag due to an LMP2 accident.

The race began behind the safety car after a 25-minute delay, but the leading #8 came to a halt on the side of the circuit. As Buemi exited the vehicle to withdraw, the rain became heavier, and Conway pitted the #7 for wet tires, putting him third.

The weather worsened, causing more delays, including two more red flag periods, before the race was properly resumed with only over two hours left, and Kamui in second place. As the rain ceased and the track conditions improved, he wasted no time in overtaking the #31 WRT for the lead.

For the last stint, Lopez grabbed the wheel of the #7, which ran on hybrid intermediate tires. He re-entered the race in the lead of a tight battle for victory among the three Hypercar racers until three full course yellows late in the race disrupted the duel at the front.

Lopez dominated the final parts of the race as the track conditions improved, and he reached the finish line 27.473 seconds ahead of the #36 Alpine.

In a statement, he said, “It was a good race and it was the best way to restart our championship after what happened in Sebring. We win and lose together as a team, and it was important to win our first race of the year. The job that Kamui and Mike did in those terrible conditions was impressive. It was one of the toughest races and at one point it was just a question of surviving. After the job Kamui and Mike did, I tried to push and do my best for the end of the race. The Alpine was very close at some point and I could see a big rain cloud coming over the pits, so we had to make some decisions. As a team, we took the right ones. To win in Spa is great, and I am very happy to take maximum points for the championship.”

The team will now return to Cologne to prepare for the WEC season's pinnacle, the Le Mans 24 Hours, on June 11 to 12, where it will attempt a fifth consecutive win.

Photos from Toyota

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