Round3

24 HOURS OF LE MANS

Course:CIRCUIT DE LA SARTHE

TS050 HYBRID #7 at the Circuit de la Sarthe

STRONG START AT LE MANS FOR TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing finished in the top three positions at the end of a productive official test day at the Circuit de la Sarthe for the Le Mans 24 Hours, the third round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest lap of the day in the #7 TS050 HYBRID he shares with Mike Conway and Stéphane Sarrazin. His time of 3mins 18.132secs was more than five seconds quicker than the best Toyota lap at the 2016 test day.

The #8 TS050 HYBRID of World Championship leaders Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima was second quickest, 1.887secs behind following a positive day of set-up development and tyre comparisons.

There were three Toyotas at the top of the timing sheets, with Nicolas Lapierre, Yuji Kunimoto and José María López putting the #9 TS050 HYBRID third. As well as an intense programme of technical adjustments and comparisons, today's test was the first time for Yuji and José María to drive on the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Both drivers have experienced the circuit virtually in the team's driving simulator so they arrived well prepared and then consistently set competitive lap times. For José María, the test also provided final confirmation that he has fully recovered from the back injury which prevented him competing at Spa four weeks ago.

The Circuit de la Sarthe on the outskirts of Le Mans consists partly of public roads and is closed for most of the year. Today's two four-hour sessions are the only testing allowed before practice starts on Wednesday 14 June.

It was therefore an extremely important day for the team to fine-tune the low-downforce-specification TS050 HYBRID, which made its race debut with the #9 crew at Spa-Francorchamps last month.

The team's busy programme was helped by fine weather which allowed it to complete a combined 304 laps, covering 4,143km on a day when the #8 and #9 cars were the only ones in the 60-car field to complete more than 100 laps of the 13.629km circuit.

The team will now prepare for a brief shakedown test on the shorter Bugatti Circuit on Tuesday prior to official scrutineering on Monday 12 June, which takes place in the city centre of Le Mans. The race itself begins on Saturday 17 June.

TS050 HYBRID #7 (Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Stéphane Sarrazin)

Official Test: 1st (3min 18.132secs), 94 laps

Mike Conway (TS050 HYBRID #7)

“We began the test with quite a good car and the lap times were already strong early in the day, considering how the track felt. The lap times at the end were really encouraging but I am sure Porsche will be working flat-out until the race. The battle has only just started; there's a lot of work to do.”

Kamui Kobayashi (TS050 HYBRID #7)

“It was a smooth start to our 2017 Le Mans. We tried to improve the car for the race and it went well. The lap time, which is our best ever in the test day, is very competitive but we still have work to do because it's a 24-hour race and Porsche are a tough competitor. Let's see what we can do.”

Stéphane Sarrazin(TS050 HYBRID #7)

“It was a really good day for us. We have a good base although there are still things we need to work on. I hope it will stay like this with Toyotas at the front. We look strong but the race is a different matter so we will be working to improve the balance.”

TS050 HYBRID #8 (Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson, Kazuki Nakajima)

Official Test: 2nd (3min 19.290secs), 104 laps

Sébastien Buemi (TS050 HYBRID #8)

“It's good to be back at Le Mans and great to see a Toyota lapping in under 3mins 20secs for the first time. I am happy because it was a smooth day and we did we did more than 100 laps; over a quarter of the race distance. Now I am looking forward to race week.”

Anthony Davidson (TS050 HYBRID #8)

“It's great to drive around this brilliant circuit; I always enjoy it. This year's car feels good here; I was happy all day with the balance. The track improved as the day went on and the lap times reflected this. Our car performed well throughout so we are pretty pleased at this stage.”

Kazuki Nakajima (TS050 HYBRID #8)

“I really enjoyed it today; it was nice to drive this track again. It was a productive day in terms of set-up and tyres. So far our base looks strong so it was a positive test and now we have to keep this going for race week. We have a lot of data to analyse so the team will be busy.“ 

TS050 HYBRID #9 (Nicolas Lapierre, Yuji Kunimoto, José María López)

Official Test: 3rd (3min 21.455secs), 106 laps

Nicolas Lapierre (TS050 HYBRID #9)

“We could run the whole day which was great for our crew because we needed that experience here. We tried different tyres and aerodynamic set-ups; it went well. Well done to Yuji and José; they both did a great job on their first time here at Le Mans and set some quick lap times.“ 

Yuji Kunimoto (TS050 HYBRID #9)

“I really enjoyed it today and I discovered that I like this track a lot. My confidence was growing lap by lap and felt more comfortable; the car was nice. My team-mates and the engineers have been very helpful in the preparation for the test and I think I have made good progress.”

José María López (TS050 HYBRID #9)

“It was good to be back in the car after missing Spa. I really enjoyed driving at Le Mans; I had a nice and smooth session for my first time here. I learnt more about the specific challenge of this track and happily the car was working well. There is still a long way to go but it has started well.”

  • TS050 HYBRID at the first corner of the Circuit de la Sarthe
  • TS050 HYBRID #8
  • TS050 HYBRID at the Dunlop bridge of the Circuit de la Sarthe
  • TS050 HYBRID at the pit lane of the Circuit de la Sarthe
  • TS050 HYBRID #9
  • A machanic with TS050 HYBRID

Test day results

PosCatTeam/CarDriverBest timeGapLapsT
17LMP1-HTOYOTA GAZOO Racing
Toyota TS050 HYBRID
Mike CONWAY
Kamui KOBAYASHI
Stéphane SARRAZIN
Nicolas LAPIERRE
3:18.132-59/94M
28LMP1-HTOYOTA GAZOO Racing
Toyota TS050 HYBRID
Sébastien BUEMI
Anthony DAVIDSON
Kazuki NAKAJIMA
Yuji KUNIMOTO
3:19.290+1.15894/104M
39LMP1-HTOYOTA GAZOO Racing
Toyota TS050 HYBRID
Nicolas LAPIERRE
Yuji KUNIMOTO
Jose Maria LOPEZ
Mike CONWAY
3:21.455+3.32385/106M
42LMP1-HPorsche LMP Team
Porsche 919 Hybrid
Timo BERNHARD
Earl BAMBER
Brendon HARTLEY
Marc LIEB
3:21.512+3.38065/75M
51LMP1-HPorsche LMP Team
Porsche 919 Hybrid
Neel JANI
André LOTTERER
Nick TANDY
Marc LIEB
3:22.100+3.96856/81M
635LMP2Signatech Alpine Matmut
Alpine A470 - Gibson
Nelson PANCIATICI
Pierre RAGUES
André NEGRÃO
3:28.146+10.01452/71D
74LMP1Bykolles Racing Team
ENSO CLM P1/01 - Nismo
Oliver WEBB
Dominik KRAIHAMER
Marco BONANOMI
3:28.701+10.56951/68M
824LMP2CEFC MANOR TRS RACING
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Tor GRAVES
Jonathan HIRSCHI
Jean-Eric VERGNE
3:28.844+10.71278/80D
937LMP2Jackie Chan DC Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
David CHENG
Tristan GOMMENDY
Alex BRUNDLE
3:29.104+10.97240/69D
1026LMP2G-Drive Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Roman RUSINOV
Pierre THIRIET
Alex LYNN
Laurens VANTHOOR
3:29.113+10.98170/93D
1138LMP2Jackie Chan DC Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Ho-Pin TUNG
Thomas LAURENT
Oliver JARVIS
3:29.924+11.79256/68D
1213LMP2Vaillante Rebellion
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Nelson PIQUET JR
David HEINEMEIER HANSSON
Mathias BECHE
3:30.150+12.01854/62D
1328LMP2TDS Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
François PERRODO
Matthieu VAXIVIERE
Emmanuel COLLARD
Nicky CATSBURG
3:30.375+12.24377/81D
1436LMP2Signatech Alpine Matmut
Alpine A470 - Gibson
Romain DUMAS
Gustavo MENEZES
Matthew RAO
3:30.501+12.36974/81D
1540LMP2GRAFF
Oreca 07 - Gibson
James ALLEN
Franck MATELLI
Richard BRADLEY
3:30.525+12.39337/63D
1631LMP2Vaillante Rebellion
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Nicolas PROST
Julien CANAL
Bruno SENNA
3:30.535+12.40338/80D
1725LMP2CEFC MANOR TRS RACING
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Roberto GONZALEZ
Simon TRUMMER
Vitaly PETROV
3:30.570+12.43869/81D
1821LMP2DRAGONSPEED - 10 STAR
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Henrik HEDMAN
Ben HANLEY
Felix ROSENQVIST
3:30.693+12.56142/87D
1922LMP2G-Drive Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Memo ROJAS
Ryo HIRAKAWA
Jose GUTIERREZ
Nicolas MINASSIAN
3:31.150+13.01837/65D
2032LMP2UNITED AUTOSPORTS
LIGIER JSP217 - Gibson
Will OWEN
Hugo DE SADELEER
Filipe ALBUQUERQUE
3:31.907+13.77569/77D
2147LMP2CETILAR VILLORBA CORSE
Dallara P217 - Gibson
Roberto LACORTE
Giorgio SERNAGIOTTO
Andrea BELICCHI
3:32.567+14.43555/76D
2229LMP2Racing Team Nederland
Dallara P217 - Gibson
Jan LAMMERS
Frits VAN EERD
Rubens BARRICHELLO
3:33.304+15.17276/86D
2323LMP2Panis Barthez Competition
LIGIER JSP217 - Gibson
Fabien BARTHEZ
Timothé BURET
Nathanaël BERTHON
Simon GACHET
3:33.690+15.55861/64M
2427LMP2SMP Racing
Dallara P217 - Gibson
Maurizio MEDIANI
Sergey SIROTKIN
Victor SHAITAR
3:33.787+15.65536/46D
2534LMP2Tockwith Motorsports
LIGIER JSP217 - Gibson
Nigel MOORE
Philip HANSON
Karun CHANDHOK
3:34.385+16.25335/53D
2639LMP2GRAFF
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Enzo GUIBBERT
Eric TROUILLET
James WINSLOW
3:34.404+16.27223/61D
2717LMP2IDEC SPORT RACING
LIGIER JSP217 - Gibson
Patrice LAFARGUE
Paul LAFARGUE
David ZOLLINGER
Paul-Loup CHATIN
3:35.968+17.83655/84M
2845LMP2Algarve Pro Racing
LIGIER JSP217 - Gibson
Mark PATTERSON
Matthew MCMURRY
Vincent CAPILLAIRE
Dean KOUTSOUMIDIS
3:36.544+18.41258/96D
2943LMP2KEATING MOTORSPORTS
Riley MK30 - GIBSON
Ben KEATING
Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN
Ricky TAYLOR
Nico DE BRUJIN
3:38.671+20.53925/38M
3049LMP2Arc Bratislava
LIGIER JSP217 - Gibson
Miroslav KONOPKA
Konstantin CALKO
Rik BREUKERS
3:38.905+20.77342/66D
3133LMP2EURASIA MOTORSPORT
LIGIER JSP217 - Gibson
Jacques NICOLET
Pierre NICOLET
Erik MARIS
3:43.817+25.68530/71D
3264LMGTE ProCorvette Racing - GM
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
Oliver GAVIN
Tommy MILNER
Marcel FÄSSLER
3:54.701+36.56972/74M
3391LMGTE ProPorsche GT Team
Porsche 911 RSR
Richard LIETZ
Frédéric MAKOWIECKI
Patrick PILET
Laurens VANTHOOR
3:54.996+36.86449/87M
3492LMGTE ProPorsche GT Team
Porsche 911 RSR
Michael CHRISTENSEN
Kevin ESTRE
Dirk WERNER
Laurens VANTHOOR
3:54.999+36.86743/72M
3563LMGTE ProCorvette Racing - GM
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
Jan MAGNUSSEN
Antonio GARCIA
Jordan TAYLOR
3:55.064+36.93251/87M
3695LMGTE ProAston Martin Racing
Aston Martin VANTAGE
Nicki THIIM
Marco SØRENSEN
Richie STANAWAY
3:55.251+37.11939/55D
3797LMGTE ProAston Martin Racing
Aston Martin VANTAGE
Darren TURNER
Jonathan ADAM
Daniel SERRA
3:55.266+37.13437/55D
3871LMGTE ProAF Corse
Ferrari 488 GTE
Davide RIGON
Sam BIRD
Miguel MOLINA
3:55.385+37.25362/68M
3951LMGTE ProAF Corse
Ferrari 488 GTE
James CALADO
Alessandro PIER GUIDI
Lucas DI GRASSI
3:55.827+37.69534/68M
4082LMGTE ProRISI COMPETIZIONE
Ferrari 488 GTE
Toni VILANDER
Giancarlo FISICHELLA
Pierre KAFFER
3:55.847+37.71524/45M
4169LMGTE ProFORD CHIP GANASSI TEAM USA
Ford GT
Ryan BRISCOE
Richard WESTBROOK
3:57.536+39.40446/57M
4267LMGTE ProFord Chip Ganassi Team UK
Ford GT
Andy PRIAULX
Harry TINCKNELL
Luis Felipe DERANI
3:57.881+39.74974/84M
4368LMGTE ProFORD CHIP GANASSI TEAM USA
Ford GT
Joey HAND
Dirk MÜLLER
3:58.011+39.87935/62M
4466LMGTE ProFord Chip Ganassi Team UK
Ford GT
Stefan MÜCKE
Olivier PLA
Billy JOHNSON
3:58.181+40.04963/72M
4598LMGTE AmAston Martin Racing
Aston Martin VANTAGE
Paul DALLA LANA
Pedro LAMY
Mathias LAUDA
3:58.250+40.11876/80M
4650LMGTE AmLarbre Competition
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
Fernando REES
Romain BRANDELA
Christian PHILIPPON
3:58.302+40.17051/78M
4777LMGTE AmDempsey - Proton Racing
Porsche 911 RSR 991
Christian RIED
Matteo CAIROLI
Marvin DIENST
Julien PIGUET
3:58.449+40.31756/80D
4862LMGTE AmScuderia Corsa
Ferrari 488 GTE
Cooper MACNEIL
William SWEEDLER
Townsend BELL
3:58.599+40.46751/74M
4955LMGTE AmSPIRIT OF RACE
Ferrari 488 GTE
Duncan CAMERON
Aaron SCOTT
Marco CIOCI
3:58.804+40.67270/80M
5099LMGTE AmBeechdean AMR
Aston Martin VANTAGE
Andrew HOWARD
Ross GUNN
Oliver BRYANT
3:58.885+40.75358/63D
5190LMGTE AmTF Sport
Aston Martin VANTAGE
Salih YOLUC
Euan ALRE-HANKEY
3:59.140+41.00839/50D
5283LMGTE AmDH RACING
Ferrari 488 GTE
Tracy KROHN
Niclas JÖNSSON
Andrea BERTOLINI
3:59.174+41.04258/65M
5361LMGTE AmClearwater Racing
Ferrari 488 GTE
Weng Sun MOK
Keita SAWA
Matt GRIFFIN
3:59.276+41.14460/88M
5488LMGTE AmProton Competition
Porsche 911 RSR 991
Klaus BACHLER
Stéphane LEMERET
Khaled AL QUBAISI
Christian RIED
3:59.277+41.14541/87D
5586LMGTE AmGulf Racing UK
Porsche 911 RSR (2016)
Michael WAINWRIGHT
Benjamin BARKER
Nick FOSTER
3:59.582+41.45048/75D
5665LMGTE AmScuderia Corsa
Ferrari 488 GTE
Christina NIELSEN
Alessandro BALZAN
Bret CURTIS
4:00.120+41.98839/62M
5754LMGTE AmSPIRIT OF RACE
Ferrari 488 GTE
Thomas FLOHR
Francesco CASTELLACCI
Olivier BERETTA
4:00.213+42.08161/84M
5884LMGTE AmJMW Motorsport
Ferrari 488 GTE
Robert SMITH
Will STEVENS
Dries VANTHOOR
Jonathan COCKER
4:00.523+42.39150/66M
5993LMGTE AmProton Competition
Porsche 911 RSR 991
Patrick LONG
Abdulaziz AL FAISAL
Michael HEDLUND
Christian RIED
4:00.556+42.42433/53D
6060LMGTE AmClearwater Racing
Ferrari 488 GTE
Richard WEE
Hiroki KATOH
4:05.248+47.11674/81M

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