4. Toyota 1-2 secures WEC crown
Meanwhile at Fuji in Japan, Toyota claimed its fifth successive World Endurance Championship as its pair of GR010 Hybrids claimed a 1-2 on home soil. But it was far from straightforward for the Gazoo Racing crews, who had to wait until nearly the fourth of the six hours before hitting the front in the penultimate WEC round of the season.
At the start the #6 Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor jumped the Toyotas that had locked out the front row as Mike Conway in the #7 GR010 dropped to third behind the #50 Ferrari 499P of Miguel Molina. That became fourth after an early safety car interruption as the #51 Ferrari also got ahead. But Conway and Sébastien Buemi in the #8 passed both Ferraris before the end of the first stint and set off after the leading Porsche.
The Toyota order changed when José María López locked up the #7, allowing Ryo Hirakawa to pass. The Japanese then pulled a great move on Kevin Estre in the Porsche to take the lead just before the four-hour mark, with Brendon Hartley in the #8 soon moving up to second. The deciding moment of the race came in the fifth hour when Kamui Kobayashi moved the #7 past the #8 to take a race-deciding lead.
“It was a tough race for all of us and each of us had moments when it was difficult to overtake,” said Conway in celebration of the victory he shared with Lopez and team principal Kobayashi. “Our pace looked close with Porsche, so we knew we had a real race on our hands. We had to bide our time and once Kamui got clear it was OK.”
The result leaves the #7 crew 15 points down on Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa in their battle for the drivers’ title with just the Bahrain 8 Hours left to complete the WEC season. The finale takes place on November 4.