Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa, and Sebastien Buemi’s victory in the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo has reduced the gap to leaders Porsche to only four points in the manufacturers’ standings, with three races remaining in the season.
The win was the first for the #8 GR010 Hybrid since the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain and was also their first podium of 2024, following a difficult start to their title defence across the opening four rounds.
Success in Brazil moves Hartley, Hirakawa, and Buemi to fifth place in the Driver’s Championship, albeit 48 points behind leaders Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, and Laurens Vanthoor of Porsche.
Both Toyotas showed great pace across the six hours at Interlagos, with the #7 leading early from the pole and overcoming an early drive-through penalty for an infringement under a full-course yellow to return to the front.
However, a a fuel pressure sensor issue cost the car three minutes in the third hour, costing them over three minutes.
Drivers Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck De Vries and Mike Conway bounced back to cross the line fourth.
“It feels great to get the first win of the season,” said Hartley. “We haven’t had the best of seasons up to now on car #8 so to get this win is fantastic.
“Car #7 did an amazing race. They were flying today, so I feel bad for them.”
Buemi added, “It is an amazing day for us on car #8, winning a race for the first time this year.
“We had a great car. Tyre management was one of our strengths, particularly the fact we could use the medium compound throughout the race, which really helped us have good pace. I’m so happy to finally have a weekend without any issues after a tricky start to the season.
“We had a strong qualifying with the one-two, but car #7 was unlucky with their issue. They were very fast and deserved a much better result than that.
“We scored good points in the manufacturers’ World Championship, and we will go to the next race aiming to keep that going.”
Kobayashi, who also serves as the Team Principal of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s World Endurance Championship team, recognised the achievements of the #8 car but believes a one-two finish was on the cards.
“For the team, this was definitely our week,” he said. “We had good pace in qualifying, then both cars were really strong in the race, and we managed the tyre degradation really well.
“Congratulations to car #8 for the victory; they drove a great race. Obviously, car #7 had the potential to win, but unfortunately, we had an issue that cost us time in the pits.
“From then on, it was a difficult situation for us, but we tried our best to come back, and fourth was the best we could realistically achieve. Thanks to the team for all their hard work. We will analyse what happened on our car and come back even stronger for the next races.”
The World Endurance Championship returns with Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas on August 30, before the 6 Hours of Fuji and the 8 Hours of Bahrain conclude the season.
Header Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing
