With the arrival of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Barcelona, Toyota has acknowledged that its rival, BMW, enjoys a performance advantage after conducting a private test at the circuit. The event in the Catalan capital will mark the first time this competition races on the 4.56 km track, and the teams are training to adapt to the new circumstances.
The 2026 WEC season will close with two six-hour races in Europe, after events initially scheduled in Qatar and Bahrain were canceled due to logistical issues related to the war in Western Asia. In this new scenario, BMW, along with Cadiac and Genesis, booked the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to tackle their LMDh, allowing the team to develop their strategies ahead of competition.
In contrast, Toyota could not conduct a similar test in the two months between the races in Sao Paulo and Austin, raising concerns about their preparation. The technical director of Toyota, David Floury, commented on the difficulty of organizing the test in Barcelona due to post-race logistics.
Both parties have acknowledged that the lack of tests at the circuit may have a negative impact on Toyota‘s performance. Nyck de Vries, the team driver, stated that it is suboptimal not to have been able to run on a track where the competition has.
On the other hand, Andreas Roos, head of motorsport at BMW, admitted that the tests were beneficial, but assured that the competition will remain tight. In this regard, BMW driver Sheldon van der Linde added that the tests have allowed them to analyze how the car behaves in the characteristics of the Catalan circuit, with a good prior knowledge accumulated from their previous experiences in other categories.
The upcoming event promises to be an unprecedented challenge for all WEC teams, with great interest from fans and special attention to the strategies each team will apply on the track.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_9451b4fc14cebadb19feedb60607f52ecc25480c