Kamui Kobayashi has said Toyota has no immediate answer for why it struggled so much in this month’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo round of the FIA World Endurance Championship and must “work hard” to find a solution for upcoming races.
Coming off the back of its victory in June’s Le Mans 24 Hours, both Toyota TR010 Hybrids struggled for pace and ultimately finished outside of the points, resulting in the Japanese marque’s first non-score since last year’s Interlagos round.
The No. 7 machine that Kobayashi shared with Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway was a lapped 12th, while the sister No. 8 car was left 12 laps down after contact with one of the Genesis GMR-001s left it needing a 16-minute stop for suspension repairs.
Meanwhile, BMW’s second victory of the season means that Toyota’s lead in the manufacturers’ standings is down to five points with four races to go.
Speaking exclusively to Sportscar365, Kobayashi said that he felt points were on the table for the No. 7 car without Conway picking up a drive-through penalty for a full-course yellow infraction in the second hour.
“We could have scored points, but with the drive-through it wasn’t possible,” said Kobayashi. “Without that I think we could have scored points, just a small amount, but enough. But the biggest thing is we didn’t have the pace.”
Asked why Toyota struggled so much, he replied: “If you have the answer, I’d like to know!
“At Le Mans, we were consistent even if we weren’t the quickest, but this time, honestly, we have no idea what happened. We had no chance. We were just lacking performance.
“I did all I could. When I jumped in the car [for the final two stints], we were already far from the points. I think I did my job as a driver, so I am not disappointed.”
Despite its non-score, Toyota remains in command of the manufacturers’ standings, while Kobayashi, de Vries and Conway are level on points with BMW duo Rene Rast and Robin Frijns in the race for the drivers’ title.
The No. 8 crew of Ryo Hirakawa, Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley are 19 points back from the lead in fifth position.
Prior to the Lone Star Le Mans round on Sept. 6, Toyota, along with Genesis Magma Racing, will hold a two-day test at the Circuit of The Americas on July 29-31 (with a break on July 30) to get a head start on an event in which it struggled last year.
Asked for his thoughts on the title situation, and the looming battle with BMW, which like Toyota has won two of the four races so far, Kobayashi said: “We’ll try our best.
“We need to work hard to investigate what is causing the problem for us, and increase the performance. But BMW has always been strong, anyway. It’s not a surprise [that they are fighting for the championship] because they have their update.
“Also, I don’t know why, but especially the LMDhs this year have been quite strong.”
Although Toyota’s stated pre-season aim of winning Le Mans for the first time since 2022 with its updated car has already been achieved, Kobayashi highlighted the importance of trying to back up its success with its first WEC title since 2024.
“We have done the hardest job, but we are also in a good position in the championship as well, so I think we need to do our best to achieve this,” he said.
