Brendon Hartley completed the final day of the World Endurance Championship Prologue with a steady total of laps under his belt.
However, it is the solid LMP2 pace that has everyone talking.
LMP2 squad G-Drive concluded Tuesday’s test with the quickest lap time, some five-tenths faster than the leading Le Mans Hypercar entry.
Monday’s test was also topped by LMP2 team United Autosport.
Hartley and co-drivers Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi racked up 122 laps of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit throughout the day.
The trio posted their best time in the afternoon session. While that time ended up topping the session, it was still over half a second slower than what G-Drive set in the morning.
Toyota Gazoo Racing team director Rob Leupen said the performance gap between the Hypercar and LMP2 class was ‘surprising’.
“A bit surprised about the speed of the LMP2s of course,” Leupen said in an interview with Sportscar365.
“Maybe on a long stint we might get the edge, but this is not what we have expected.
“It’s not nice to see that they are so far ahead, but it’s something which I think should be reviewed.”
The LMP2 class have been significantly hobbled since last season, with the cars detuned and dealt a weight penalty.
Toyota was also revealed to be running at 520kW during the test, instead of the 500kW announced at the car’s launch.
The team said the 500kW limit is for Le Mans only, and given the current pace of the LMP2 class, they felt the need to increase their power output.
After Monday’s electrical drama, the second Toyota experienced a smoother day of running and ended up fourth on the combined times.
Attention now turns to the first round of the 2021 WEC season, which will be the 6 Hours of Spa on May 1.
