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Toyota TS030 Hybrid takes its first victory at 6 Hrs of Sao Paulo!
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The Toyota TS030 Hybrid has opened up its LMP1 wins tally with an awesome victory at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo while Starworks Motorsports continues to dominate LMP2 in the FIA World Endurace Championship
They might not have had the best of luck at their debut race in the 24 Hours Of Le Mans earlier this year, but it hasn’t taken long for the Toyota TS030 Hybrid to claim its first victory. Climbing on to the top step of the podium at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo this week were Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre after 247 laps of body-rattling racing at the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The weekend itself started off on a high note for the team with Wurz and Lapierre staking claim to pole position in the No.7 TS030 Hybrid and they pretty much led all the way from start to finish in the race as well. With a smaller fuel tank than its other non-hybrid competitors the Toyota would have to pit more than the competition but the race’s only safety car period played right into the hands of the Toyota team. While the No.2 Audi R18 Ultra and the No.1 R18 e-tron Quattro were stuck behind the second safety car, the TS030 was behind the first and they managed to extend quite a lead. Wurz and Lapierre led the whole distance of the race except for a brief moment during their first pitstop.
At the end of the 6 hour run, the top three cars had completed the same number of laps as the race-winning Toyota, with Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer coming in second just over a minute behind in the R18 e-tron Quattro while Kristensen/McNish/di Grassi followed third in the R18 Ultra. Fourth place was taken by the very dominant privateer team Rebellion Racing and their Toyota-powered Lola B12/60 coupe with Neil Jani and Nicolas Prost at the wheel, leading Strakka racing’s No.21 HPD ARX 03a Honda in fifth 7 laps behind the race winners.
In the LMP2 class the Starworks Motorsports team pulled off yet another dominant win having completed 234 laps. This brings up their third win of the season for the No.44 after winning the opening round at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the all-important 24 Hours Of Le Mans. It wasn’t as comfortable a win as the results seem though with Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin having a tough four-hour long battle with the No.35 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan before the latter’s race ended with a technical problem. Oak Racing had to settle for third place in LMP2 with their sister car, the No.24 driven by Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla while Pecom Racing’s No.49 Oreca Nissan made it to second.
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