Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa enter this weekend’s WEC Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas buoyed by their success in the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo last round.
The victory, the reigning driver’s champions’ first of 2024, elevated them to fifth in the standings. They do, however, have work to do to overturn a 48-point margin to Porsche’s Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor over the final three rounds.
The Manufacturer’s Championship is much tighter, with Toyota now within four points of Porsche and 13 ahead of third-placed Ferrari.
The team and drivers will face the heat of a Texan summer at the 5.513km Circuit of the Americas in the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans race, which returns to the WEC calendar for the first time since 2020.
Toyota Gazoo Racing has never won at Circuit of the Americas, achieving a best result of second in its six visits to Texas so far.
Hartley has, however, won on three occasions, all coming with Porsche.
“I love racing in Austin; it’s a cool city and a great track,” said the four-time World Endurance Champion. “It’s very challenging with a nice mix of fast-flowing corners and tighter technical sections.
“I’ve been successful there in the past. I won the Lone Star Le Mans three times before, so I’m obviously hoping to make it number four.
“It will be a tough one, though, because we expect the opposition to be strong again, but we showed in São Paulo what can be achieved with a big team effort and the right tyre strategy. That will be the target again.”
Hirakawa, meanwhile, has never competed at the circuit, with his only experience there coming in a test drive earlier this season.
“Austin is another new circuit for me, and I am looking forward to it. It was nice to experience the track already during the test and this helped me get familiar with it.
“It’s a challenging and fun-to-drive circuit, especially the high-speed section early in the lap. I think it will be another exciting race.
“We’re getting closer to the end of the season now, so we have to keep scoring good points for the World Championship. It’s a close battle, and every point can make a difference in the end.”
Buemi’s victory in Sao Paulo was his 25th in the World Endurance Championship, a new record. He also holds the record for the most outright championships, with four, tied with Hartley.
“It was fantastic to win our first race of the season in Brazil,” he said. “Our car #8 has been more competitive than the results suggested so I feel like we deserved that. It gives us confidence going into the last three races of the season when, of course, we want to fight for more victories.
“Austin will be hot again, as it was for our test last month, and this will be challenging in terms of tyre management. But we showed in São Paulo that this is one of our team’s strong points, so I am hopeful again for this race.”
This weekend’s Lone Star Le Mans also features New Zealander Earl Bamber, who joins forces with Alex Lynn in a two-driver lineup at Cadillac Racing. Lynn and Bamber are 13th in the WEC Driver’s Championship.
Qualifying for Lone Star Le Mans begins at 8.00 am on Sunday NZST, with the six-hour race starting at 6.00 am on Monday.
New Zealand viewers can watch with a paid subscription to the WEC app.
Header Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing
