As one of eight manufacturers alongside Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot and Porsche in a strong Hypercar field, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing takes on the challenge of eight races this year, including the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours.

Qatar hosts the season-opener on Friday when the team’s mission to retain its manufacturers’ World Championship, regain the drivers’ world title and once again stand on the top step of the Le Mans podium will begin in earnest.

Two 90-minute free practice sessions in Qatar marked the start of the season and illustrated the intense competition among the 18 Hypercars. At the end of three hours of practice, the #8 of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa was the lead GR010 HYBRID in sixth, with the #7 crew of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries in 13th after a constructive day in challenging conditions.

Following the two-day Prologue last week, the team’s engineers and drivers had prepared for today’s action by analysing data from the GR010 HYBRIDs and the Michelin tyres, working to optimise performance for the race. Meanwhile, all six drivers also joined local Toyota colleagues on Sunday for a lap time competition with GR Yaris Cup Qatar race cars, sharing the excitement of motorsports. Visitors to Lusail International Circuit can also get their own taste of the GR Yaris Cup Qatar via a TOYOTA GAZOO Racing display in the fan zone.

When free practice began late on windy Wednesday morning, both GR010 HYBRIDs remained in the garage for almost 10 minutes to assess conditions, which had changed since the Prologue due to a change in wind direction causing sand to be blown on to the racing line. Eventually, both cars began on-track preparations for Friday’s race, working on tyres and car set-ups.

Nyck and Brendon set the fastest laps for their respective cars. The #7 was 13th and the #8 fourth on the timing sheets in a close session which was interrupted by a 10-minute red flag and ended with less than a second separating the quickest 11 cars.

Second practice started in daylight and ran into darkness, with floodlights illuminating Lusail International Circuit as the team carried out more tyre and race preparations. Brendon made the most of an early lap with lower fuel load to record the best time for the #8, sixth overall. Nyck waited until later in the session to test a qualifying set-up and register the best lap in the #7, putting that car 13th on the timing sheets.

The team will now work on improvements prior to third practice on Thursday lunchtime, which is the final opportunity to try new settings before qualifying and Hyperpole later in the day (5.40pm local, 3.40pm CET). The race starts at 2pm (midday CET) on Friday 28 February.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7):

“We tried to optimise the car for the situation we experienced today with the change of wind direction and track conditions. We worked hard to find a better feeling in the car, and we are more consistent with that now. We struggled a bit in terms of outright speed compared to some of the others, so we need to try to close that gap. Hopefully we can manage it in time for qualifying.”

Mike Conway (Driver, car #7):

“We spent the day trying to get the car as strong as possible for the conditions that we faced, which were a bit different to the Prologue. When the wind changes direction here, the sand moves around, and the track changes a lot. So, we were trying to rebalance the car to take this into account today. The car feels okay, but we are still fine-tuning and doing the best we can.”

Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7):

“We had a smooth day with no issues, and we did a lot of laps, but the track conditions changed a lot since the Prologue so that created a bit of a reset for everyone. We worked hard to adapt to the conditions and tried to optimise our package for the race. It’s challenging but we are pulling together and giving our maximum effort.”

Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8):

“It was the first day of race week for us and it went well without any issues. After the Prologue, the wind has changed completely so we needed to adapt to this. However, the overall picture is not so different to the Prologue because we are still a little bit behind. I feel like we have made some improvements, but we will work hard to come back stronger for qualifying.”

Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8):

“We made a few small changes since the Prologue when we did a lot of laps. I think all that running helped us find some improvements, but it looks like the others have moved forward too because the gap to the front is similar. Nevertheless, we had a smooth day, with no issues and we will work on maximising what we have and executing a perfect weekend from here.”

Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8):

“After the Prologue we did a lot of preparation for race week but on top of that we needed to make further small changes to the set-up because the conditions were quite different. The car is working better than in the Prologue which is a good thing, but we are not yet in the top group in terms of lap time, unfortunately. We never give up and I feel like the team is on the case. We are doing our best; the race will be challenging but let’s see what we can achieve.”