Hartley on podium in 6 Hours of Monza

It was a double podium for Toyota Gazoo Racing at the 6 Hours of Monza over the weekend, with Kiwi driver Brendon Hartley finishing second.

The race got underway with a few hiccups including two full-course cautions triggering fuel stops for the hypercars. Regardless, both GR010 Hybrids put in solid performances even with the #8 driven by Sebastian Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Hartley experiencing electrical issues in the first hour.

Buemi did well to only lose two positions while battling the issue, but a pit stop to reset the electrical system cost the team 30 seconds.

They ended up back out on track in fifth and were soon back on pace, passing the #94 Peugeot hypercar class newcomer for fourth.

Another full-course yellow one-third into the race triggered the next round of pitstops with Hartley taking over the controls of #8 from Buemi.

The #7 GR010 Hybrid piloted by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López challenged the Alpine hypercar for second throughout the first half of the race while Hartley resumed in the #8 car.

By halfway, yet another incident brought the safety car out, bunching up the field. All hypercars pitted and Conway overhauled the Glickenhaus for the lead, thanks to a shorter pit stop.

Upon the restart, Hartley capitalised on the Glickenhaus’ drive-through penalty, moving him into second place with Conway leading.

Hartley held second, alternating positions in the next round of pit stops where there were only seconds separating the top three hypercars.

Towards the end of the fifth hour, with Kobayashi leading a GR010 HYBRID one-two, Hirakawa heroically held off the Alpine, which was on fresher tyres, for several laps before dropping to third on lap 153.

A lap later, Kobayashi was defending the lead on the start-finish straight when the #7 and the Alpine made contact.

The #7 sustained a right rear puncture and damage to its bodywork, and Kobayashi returned slowly to the pits for repairs.

Thanks to a full course yellow, he lost only one lap and returned in third. When racing resumed with an hour remaining, Hirakawa was second and putting pressure on the race leader.

Hirakawa showed impressive speed, as well as skill through the traffic, to keep the pressure on and he closed to within three seconds at the chequered flag.

Kobayashi, who served a 90-second penalty as a result of the incident with the Alpine, took the flag in the #7 in third, two laps behind.

“I think we did a very good race and it’s a bit annoying to miss the win by three seconds after six hours,” said Hartley.

“Séb had the issue early in the race but he managed it very well and we didn’t lose too much time. The pace from all three drivers was strong all day, and the engineers and mechanics did a great job too,”

“Alpine were quick today; we didn’t do much wrong but we still fell short so congratulations to them. Now we want to come back stronger in Fuji.”

6 Hours of Fuji in Japan is up next starting from September 11.

6 Hours of Monza Standings (Top 5):