TOYOTA RACING has maintained the lead in both the World Constructors’ Championship and the World Drivers’ Championship of the WEC after the Lone Star Le Mans, the fifth round of the season, contested last Sunday (6) at the Circuit of the Americas in the United States. The trio formed by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries came very close to victory, but retired with 11 minutes to go while they were leading. Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa crossed the finish line in sixth.
The results at the circuit in Austin widened TOYOTA RACING’s lead in the World Endurance Championship, reaching a nine-point gap to the second-placed team. Among the drivers, Kobayashi, Conway and De Vries lead the standings with 75 points, tied with René Rast and Robin Frijns’ team. Hartley, Hirakawa and Buemi are fourth with 64 points.
With De Vries starting seventh and Buemi ninth, both moved into the group of the first six early on, before adopting different refueling strategies. Car number 8 made its first pit stop earlier to gain a clear track, and both drivers were in the top three in the first two hours of the race.
A Safety Car in the middle of the race altered the strategies and reduced the gaps. After the restart, De Vries pulled off three bold overtakes at the first corner to challenge for the lead. Kobayashi took the wheel and maintained the lead under pressure from the two rivals as the final hour approached.
The No. 8 car was a strong podium contender, with Hirakawa in third with 1h30m to go, until a drive-through for speeding in the pit lane dropped him to seventh. Another setback followed with the entrance of the Virtual Safety Car shortly after. Having stopped for refueling under race conditions moments earlier, the No. 8 car dropped to 14th while its rivals gained time by stopping during the VSC.
Subsequently, another Safety Car was deployed and, when the race resumed with 45 minutes to go, De Vries set new fastest laps to open a gap at the front. He was within reach of victory when a hydraulic issue forced him into the garage with only 11 minutes remaining.
Buemi recovered some points for the team with a rapid final stint. The Swiss driver delivered a true overtaking masterclass, passing several rivals to re-enter the points and finish sixth.
TOYOTA RACING shifts its focus to the home race in three weeks. The 6 Hours of Fuji take place on September 27 in Japan.
