Toyota put new focus on WEC qualifying after losing out at Sebring
Hartley explained that the Toyota Gazoo Racing squad had worked hard on getting the most out of its two GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercars in Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session. “We focussed more on getting the potential out of the car in qualifying than we normally do,” Hartley told Motorsport.com after taking the pole by nearly […]
Maiden WEC podium for Cadillac possible with perfect Portimao race
The new Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh finished fourth on its WEC debut at last month’s Sebring 1000 Miles and will start tomorrow’s six-hour race from eighth on the grid. Richard Westbrook qualified the solo Cadillac Hypercar entry he shares with Lynn and Earl Bamber 2.411s down on polesitter Brendon Hartley’s #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID at the […]
Albuquerque explains Acura’s Long Beach turnaround
Albuquerque turned around a big deficit from last year’s Long Beach qualifying session to lead an Acura 1-2 on Friday afternoon, at a track that’s been historically dominated by Cadillac. In 2022, Sebastien Bourdais took pole in his Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac with a laptime of 1m09.472s. The first Acura, the #60 Meyer Shank-run ARX-05, […]
Hartley leads Toyota 1-2 in qualifying; Ferrari third
Brendon Hartley led a qualifying 1-2 for the Japanese manufacturer, outpacing team-mate and team principal Kamui Kobayashi by nearly three tenths of a second. Hartley’s 1m30.171s aboard the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar compared with Kobayashi’s 1m30.444s in #7. Toyota had a clear margin over Ferrari, which took pole in the Sebring season-opener […]
WEC title proves Alonso hasn’t been in «darkest tunnel for decades»
The double F1 champion has chalked a hat-trick of podiums to kick off the new F1 season. This follows his switch from Alpine to in-form Aston Martin, who Max Verstappen reckons will win grands prix this year. Verstappen has also noted that Alonso should have more than his current tally of 32 F1 victories. This is a […]
Hartley secures Toyota’s practice sweep in FP3
Brendon Hartley ensured a practice clean sweep for Toyota with a 1m31.795s lap of the Algarve International Circuit aboard the #8 machine, but was only 0.189s clear of James Calado in the #51 Ferrari 499P LMH. The Briton’s 1m31.984s had briefly put his AF Corse-run entry 0.053s ahead of Hartley, before the three-time Le Mans […]
Nissan drivers explain Michelin’s wet dominance
The French tyre firm caused a stir last year when it revealed an unconventional new wet-weather tyre, using that to dominate the only rain-affected race of the season at Sugo with the two NISMO-run Nissan Zs. Michelin’s wet-weather prowess continued into a rain-soaked qualifying day at Okayama, as the #23 Nissan of Tsugio Matsuda and […]
Nissan locks out front row for opening round
The two Michelin-shod, NISMO-entered Z cars were a class apart from the rest of the field on a wet but drying Okayama Circuit in the final leg of qualifying, with Tsugio Matsuda eventually taking pole position in the #23 machine from Mitsunori Takaboshi in the sister #3 entry. Matsuda and Takaboshi initially traded the top […]
ARTA Honda gets Okayama penalty for chassis change
The car shared by Tomoki Nojiri and Toshiki Oyu has been handed the penalty for a change of chassis, something not permitted by the regulations except in cases of force majeure. Nojiri and Oyu will most likely have to serve their penalty in the early laps of the 82-lap race on Sunday, although exactly when […]