World Endurance Championship: Kamui Kobayashi leads charge for Toyota one-two at Six Hours of Spa
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Updated 29/04/2023 at 20:28 GMT
Toyota Gazoo Racing were top of the pack on Saturday at Six Hours of Spa in the third event of the World Endurance Championship. Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez won the race outright in the No. 7, but there was a superb run from the back of the grid with the No. 8 car, staffed by Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi, taking second.
Highlights: Kobayashi leads charge for Toyota one-two at Six Hours of Spa
Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez and Toyota Gazoo Racing were at the heart of a one-two victory in the third race of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Six Hours of Spa saw tough conditions for all teams, but in front of more than 70,000 spectators, the GR010 HYBRID took the win.
The trio started on slicks in contrast to many around them, as they anticipated drying conditions.
That meant that while they struggled against Ferrari AF Corse 499ps in the early stages, they were able to pull away when other cars had to drop back and then pull in for slicks.
From that point on, the race appeared to be theirs, and there was a brief fright as their team-mates in No. 8 appeared in second after battling from the back of the grid, but they finished 16 seconds clear.
“It was a crazy race with safety cars that kept eradicating our leads. But all my team-mates did solid stints. It’s a great team result,” Conway said.
The No. 8 team Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi recovered brilliantly after a poor effort in qualifiyng.
AF Corse Ferrari took the final podium spot. The Italian team will be disappointed with their choice of tires, and struggles on cold tires early on.
In the LMP2, No. 41 Team WRT ORECA of Rui Andrade, Robert Kubica and Louis Deletraz, beat No. 23 United Autosports ORECA who started in pole.
Inter Europol were third.
In GTE AM, Richard Mille AF Corse took the win with the No. 83 team of Alessio Rovera, Lilou Wadoux and Luis Perez Companc.
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