In its first visit to Barcelona, the World Endurance Championship (WEC) has witnessed an absolute dominance by Toyota, which recorded a spectacular 1-2 to secure the constructors’ title in the Hypercar category with a race still to run.
The trio consisting of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi, and Ryo Hirakawa drove the #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid, with an excellent performance that kept them almost unchallenged throughout the six-hour competition. The team surpassed the other car from the brand, driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, and Mike Conway, in changing conditions of rain and dry.
This victory marks the third of the season for the #8, which now leads the standings with a 17-point advantage over its fellow 24 Hours of Le Mans winners, ahead of the final that will take place in Monza next month.
Race development
All vehicles began the race on wet-weather tires, following heavy rains that fell before the competition. With the track still wet, the safety car withdrew after an extra formation lap, and the race began with intensity.
Driver Daniel Juncadella made a great start from third place, placing the #19 Genesis GMR-001 in first position. However, the Spanish driver went off track at turn 5, allowing Buemi, who had passed the pole-sitting #17 Genesis driven by Andre Lotterer, to take the lead with the #8 Toyota.
An incident forced the race to be neutralized before completing the first lap, with the #35 Alpine A424 and the #78 ASP Lexus RC F GT3 halted on the track due to several accidents.
After a brief resumption, the safety car had to be re-deployed when Harry Tincknell got stuck with the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie. Most of the Hypercar entrants, except for the #20 BMW, took advantage of the situation to pit and refuel under the virtual safety car.
Finally, the race resumed with nine minutes remaining in the first hour, with Buemi leading comfortably. De Vries closed the gap with his teammate, achieving a notable advance that established a 1-2 for Toyota before the first hour concluded.
During the rest of the race, Hartley, after taking over from Buemi, managed to create a gap of about 14 seconds, which provided a considerable advantage to the #8 at the halfway point of the competition. With two hours to go, a new incident forced the race to stop, but Hirakawa re-established a firm lead, maintaining his advantage until the end.
In the end, the difference between the two Toyotas was only 0.6 seconds, with Hirakawa, Buemi, and Hartley achieving their second consecutive victory, thereby bolstering their bid for the drivers’ title.
Rivals and final classification
The #50 Ferrari 499P, driven by Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen, and Antonio Fuoco, finished in third place, but over half a minute behind the winner. The #38 Cadillac V-Series.R also shone, contesting an exciting final race to secure fourth place.
Despite a challenging day, the #20 BMW M Hybrid experienced tire pressure problems and finished without points for the third consecutive time, leaving the two Toyotas as the only contenders for the drivers’ title in the upcoming Monza event.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
