Toyota achieved with Qatar result – Sportscar365 “Restriction of damage”

Photo: Fabrizio Boldoni/Dppi

Toyota described his result at the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship season in Qatar as a “damage restriction” when his two GR010 hybrids became fifth and sixth.

The technical director of the Japanese Marque, David Floury, made the remark after a race dominated by Ferrari, which was the podium with its three AF ​​Corse 499PS, and Toyota was unable to bring the fight against the Italian brand at a pure pace.

Against the background of Toyota in the Qatar in 1812 km, the heaviest car in Hypercar under the performance, 27 kg heavier than the Ferrari.

“As a team, we did the best that we could, what we had,” said Floury after the race.

“In contrast to most of our competitors, we had no penalties, and we used every opportunity that we had from the perspective of the strategy. Fifth and sixth was about the best we could do.

“It's a bit frustrating, but for the championship it was a restriction of damage if you consider that we can be a bit more competitive in the next races.”

The No. 8 Toyotas of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa were fifth behind the best of the BMWs, while Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries claimed sixth place in sister No. 7.

The team director Kobayashi repeated Floury's statements when he spoke to Sportscar365, as the race showed that Toyota was a clear fourth in the Hypercar -Hacker Order behind Ferrari, Cadillac and BMW.

“Ferrari was far too fast, as you can see, they had many punishments and they still easily won,” said Kobayashi. “We were very far away.

“But we could also see that Porsche obviously had to struggle with the weight. The weight effect is huge, and this time the Ferrari is easier, so I think that's the explanation. We tried our best to minimize the damage. “

Both Toyotas lost No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 in the last stop when they took two fresh tires in the last round of the pit stops, while the German brand decided to stop for fuel.

Kobayashi admitted that Toyota was not ready to feel his tires in triple under the circumstances.

“Maybe we could have been a position higher, but at the same time there was a risk of tripling the tire,” he said. “We did not take this risk and this was the result.

“We only lost two points compared to BMW, so it's not bad.”

Hirakawa described when Hartley's spin in qualifying had occupied the fifth type of “type of a victory” that the No. 8 crew of the 17th on the raster had launched with a recovery fee.

The Japanese driver explained how the No. 8 received the advantage over No. 7 in the last stop: “We Could extend another round, and No. 7 had a hard time with the cold tires so that we could override a little. “

Hirakawa offered Kobayashi a similar look when asked if he was losing against BMW.

“Maybe a car could have afterwards [risked it] In view of the weight, we did not want to take the risk, ”he said.

“We did not carry out triple testing of a triple test. It is easy to say such things afterwards. “

Jamie Klein is Sportscar365's Asian Editor. The Japan, based in Motorsport Network on the titles of Motorsport.CI and Autosport, previously worked for the motorsport network.