Round2

6 HOURS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

SPA (BG)

Course:CIRCUIT DE SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

Practice

POSITIVE PRACTICE FOR TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing made an encouraging start to practice for the second round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

TOYOTA arrives at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps leading the manufacturers’ World Championship after being the only LMP1 Hybrid team to record a two-car finish in the season-opener at Silverstone.

But the team was determined to improve performance for round two in order to fight for victory, and the early signs were positive in today’s two 90-minute practice sessions.

The #6 TS050 HYBRID of Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest lap time in second practice, 0.155secs quicker than the #5 of Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima in second. Earlier the two cars had been respectively third and fifth in the opening session.

Unlike at Silverstone last month, where rain and snow interrupted preparations, practice at Spa took place in warm, sunny conditions which allowed the team the ideal opportunity to work on set-up and tyres.

The priority was to optimise the control settings and set-ups to get the maximum performance out of the new TS050 HYBRID, whilst also understanding the behaviour of the various specifications of Michelin tyres.

A test at Motorland Aragon after Silverstone gave the team additional data to improve performance and this progress was validated today. The two cars completed 103 laps, covering 721km despite second practice ending early due to an accident for a GT car.

But the team is focused on extracting even more performance from the TS050 HYBRID in third practice prior to Friday’s qualifying session and Saturday’s race.

TS050 HYBRID #5 (Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima)

Free practice 1: 5th (2min 00.053secs), 30 laps
Free practice 2: 2nd (1min 58.711secs), 27 laps

Anthony Davidson

“It’s been a productive day and the car has been performing better than it did at Silverstone. The more we learn about it, the faster it gets. It’s really nice to end second practice on top; it’s a good morale boost for everyone. I feel optimistic already that we are going to be in a fight in the race. That’s what we want; it’s why we are here.”

Sébastien Buemi

“I didn’t do a lot of laps today and only one in the second session. But overall the situation looks encouraging for us. We will wait until tomorrow to see where we stand after qualifying but it looks much better than it did one year ago.”

Kazuki Nakajima

“It’s been a positive day for us. We found a good direction for the set-up and it went well generally. The lap times were quite impressive. It has been a long time to see our cars at the top of the timing sheets, so that was nice after second practice. I hope this is a good sign for the rest of the weekend.”

TS050 HYBRID #6 (Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi)

Free practice 1: 3rd (1min 59.429secs), 27 laps
Free practice 2: 1st (1min 58.556secs), 19 laps

Stéphane Sarrazin

“We are stronger than we were at Silverstone; we have taken a good step but it’s too early to get carried away. The aerodynamic package seems to work well at this track and we found a nice balance. We still need to improve in some areas but it was a good day. Even if it’s only free practice, to be first and second in FP2 is a nice improvement but let’s see for the rest of the weekend.”

Mike Conway

“Our car was in the top three all day and set some good lap times. We started with a decent balance and we’ve just been improving as the day goes on, releasing more potential. We still need to work on the race balance but we came here with a good strategy and hopefully it will work out for the race, that’s the main thing.”

Kamui Kobayashi

“I drove only in the morning and it went well. It’s a great feeling to drive the TS050 HYBRID around this circuit; the power and the hybrid boost were really impressive. There are a lot of high-speed corners here and the car felt really good. We are in quite a good position I think today so we can be positive.”

Free practice 1 results

Pos N° Cat Driver Car T Laps Total Time Gap Gap Prev. Best lap Best time Best speed
1 1 LMP1 Timo BERNHARD, Mark WEBBER, Brendon HARTLEY Porsche 919 Hybrid M 30 - - 15 1:58.012 213.7
2 2 LMP1 Romain DUMAS, Neel JANI, Marc LIEB Porsche 919 Hybrid M 23 +0.565 +0.565 4 1:58.577 212.6
3 6 LMP1 Stéphane SARRAZIN, Mike CONWAY, Kamui KOBAYASHI Toyota TS050 - Hybrid M 27 +1.417 +0.852 4 1:59.429 211.1
4 7 LMP1 Marcel FÄSSLER, André LOTTERER, Benoît TRÉLUYER Audi R18 M 33 +1.971 +0.554 9 1:59.983 210.1
5 5 LMP1 Anthony DAVIDSON, Sébastien BUEMI, Kazuki NAKAJIMA Toyota TS050 - Hybrid M 30 +2.041 +0.070 3 2:00.053 210.0
6 8 LMP1 Lucas DI GRASSI, Loïc DUVAL, Oliver JARVIS Audi R18 M 11 +2.428 +0.387 4 2:00.440 209.4
7 13 LMP1 Mathéo TUSCHER, Dominik KRAIHAMER, Alexandre IMPERATORI Rebellion R-One - AER D 21 +6.145 +3.717 9 2:04.157 203.1
8 12 LMP1 Nicolas PROST, Nelson PIQUET JR, Nick HEIDFELD Rebellion R-One - AER D 10 +8.902 +2.757 8 2:06.914 198.7
9 31 LMP2 Ryan DALZIEL, Luis Felipe DERANI, Christopher CUMMING LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 36 +10.962 +2.060 4 2:08.974 195.5
10 26 LMP2 Roman RUSINOV, Nathanaël BERTHON, René RAST Oreca 05 - Nissan D 31 +11.017 +0.055 7 2:09.029 195.4
11 36 LMP2 Gustavo MENEZES, Nicolas LAPIERRE, Stéphane RICHELMI Alpine A460 - Nissan D 32 +11.097 +0.080 5 2:09.109 195.3
12 4 LMP1 Simon TRUMMER, Oliver WEBB, James ROSSITER CLM P1/01 - AER D 5 +11.430 +0.333 4 2:09.442 194.8
13 35 LMP2 David CHENG, Ho-Pin TUNG, Nelson PANCIATICI Alpine A460 - Nissan D 34 +11.433 +0.003 2 2:09.445 194.8
14 42 LMP2 Nick LEVENTIS, Danny WATTS, Jonny KANE Gibson 015S - Nissan D 28 +11.471 +0.038 5 2:09.483 194.7
15 37 LMP2 Vitaly PETROV, Kirill LADYGIN, Victor SHAYTAR BR01 - Nissan D 29 +11.517 +0.046 6 2:09.529 194.7
16 44 LMP2 Tor GRAVES, Will STEVENS, James JAKES Oreca 05 - Nissan D 26 +11.561 +0.044 4 2:09.573 194.6
17 45 LMP2 Matthew RAO, Richard BRADLEY, Roberto MERHI Oreca 05 - Nissan D 25 +12.193 +0.632 13 2:10.205 193.6
18 43 LMP2 Ricardo GONZALEZ, Filipe ALBUQUERQUE, Bruno SENNA LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 32 +12.268 +0.075 4 2:10.280 193.5
19 27 LMP2 Nicolas MINASSIAN, Maurizio MEDIANI, Devi MARKOZOV BR01 - Nissan D 31 +12.924 +0.656 3 2:10.936 192.6
20 38 LMP2 Simon DOLAN, Giedo VAN DER GARDE, Jake DENNIS Gibson 015S - Nissan D 30 +12.990 +0.066 18 2:11.002 192.5
21 30 LMP2 Scott SHARP, Ed BROWN, Johannes VAN OVERBEEK LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 33 +13.156 +0.166 4 2:11.168 192.2
22 97 LMGTE Pro Richie STANAWAY, Fernando REES, Jonathan ADAM Aston Martin Vantage V8 D 32 +21.284 +8.128 7 2:19.296 181.0
23 98 LMGTE Am Paul DALLA LANA, Pedro LAMY, Mathias LAUDA Aston Martin Vantage V8 D 28 +21.736 +0.452 4 2:19.748 180.4
24 51 LMGTE Pro Gianmaria BRUNI, James CALADO, Ferrari 488 GTE M 29 +21.798 +0.062 18 2:19.810 180.3
25 71 LMGTE Pro Davide RIGON, Sam BIRD, Ferrari 488 GTE M 34 +22.063 +0.265 12 2:20.075 180.0
26 66 LMGTE Pro Billy JOHNSON, Stefan MÜCKE, Olivier PLA Ford GT M 32 +22.103 +0.040 12 2:20.115 180.0
27 67 LMGTE Pro Marino FRANCHITTI, Andy PRIAULX, Harry TINCKNELL Ford GT M 30 +22.143 +0.040 4 2:20.155 179.9
28 50 LMGTE Am Yutaka YAMAGISHI, Pierre RAGUES, Paolo RUBERTI Chevrolet Corvette C7-Z06 M 27 +22.144 +0.001 16 2:20.156 179.9
29 77 LMGTE Pro Richard LIETZ, Michael CHRISTENSEN, Porsche 911 RSR (2016) M 29 +22.472 +0.328 4 2:20.484 179.5
30 88 LMGTE Am Khaled AL QUBAISI, David HEINEMEIER HANSSON, Patrick LONG Porsche 911 RSR M 32 +22.591 +0.119 3 2:20.603 179.3
31 95 LMGTE Pro Nicki THIIM, Marco SØRENSEN, Darren TURNER Aston Martin Vantage V8 D 24 +22.888 +0.297 7 2:20.900 179.0
32 86 LMGTE Am Michael WAINWRIGHT, Adam CARROLL, Ben BARKER Porsche 911 RSR M 29 +23.075 +0.187 9 2:21.087 178.7
33 78 LMGTE Am Christian RIED, Wolf HENZLER, Joël CAMATHIAS Porsche 911 RSR M 31 +23.103 +0.028 12 2:21.115 178.7
34 83 LMGTE Am François PERRODO, Emmanuel COLLARD, Rui AGUAS Ferrari F458 Italia M 30 +26.527 +3.424 30 2:24.539 174.4

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Free practice 2 results

Pos N° Cat Driver Car T Laps Total Time Gap Gap Prev. Best lap Best time Best speed
1 6 LMP1 Stéphane SARRAZIN, Mike CONWAY, Kamui KOBAYASHI Toyota TS050 - Hybrid M 19 - - 9 1:58.556 212.7
2 5 LMP1 Anthony DAVIDSON, Sébastien BUEMI, Kazuki NAKAJIMA Toyota TS050 - Hybrid M 27 +0.155 +0.155 2 1:58.711 212.4
3 1 LMP1 Timo BERNHARD, Mark WEBBER, Brendon HARTLEY Porsche 919 Hybrid M 29 +0.620 +0.465 7 1:59.176 211.6
4 2 LMP1 Romain DUMAS, Neel JANI, Marc LIEB Porsche 919 Hybrid M 24 +1.045 +0.425 3 1:59.601 210.8
5 7 LMP1 Marcel FÄSSLER, André LOTTERER, Benoît TRÉLUYER Audi R18 M 23 +1.743 +0.698 12 2:00.299 209.6
6 12 LMP1 Nicolas PROST, Nelson PIQUET JR, Nick HEIDFELD Rebellion R-One - AER D 21 +6.294 +4.551 3 2:04.850 202.0
7 4 LMP1 Simon TRUMMER, Oliver WEBB, James ROSSITER CLM P1/01 - AER D 22 +7.175 +0.881 14 2:05.731 200.5
8 13 LMP1 Mathéo TUSCHER, Dominik KRAIHAMER, Alexandre IMPERATORI Rebellion R-One - AER D 30 +7.410 +0.235 12 2:05.966 200.2
9 45 LMP2 Matthew RAO, Richard BRADLEY, Roberto MERHI Oreca 05 - Nissan D 27 +9.309 +1.899 18 2:07.865 197.2
10 38 LMP2 Simon DOLAN, Giedo VAN DER GARDE, Jake DENNIS Gibson 015S - Nissan D 30 +10.163 +0.854 9 2:08.719 195.9
11 36 LMP2 Gustavo MENEZES, Nicolas LAPIERRE, Stéphane RICHELMI Alpine A460 - Nissan D 28 +10.164 +0.001 4 2:08.720 195.9
12 26 LMP2 Roman RUSINOV, Nathanaël BERTHON, René RAST Oreca 05 - Nissan D 26 +10.246 +0.082 13 2:08.802 195.8
13 44 LMP2 Tor GRAVES, Will STEVENS, James JAKES Oreca 05 - Nissan D 22 +10.448 +0.202 18 2:09.004 195.5
14 37 LMP2 Vitaly PETROV, Kirill LADYGIN, Victor SHAYTAR BR01 - Nissan D 31 +10.632 +0.184 9 2:09.188 195.2
15 35 LMP2 David CHENG, Ho-Pin TUNG, Nelson PANCIATICI Alpine A460 - Nissan D 31 +11.082 +0.450 18 2:09.638 194.5
16 42 LMP2 Nick LEVENTIS, Danny WATTS, Jonny KANE Gibson 015S - Nissan D 31 +11.186 +0.104 10 2:09.742 194.3
17 43 LMP2 Ricardo GONZALEZ, Filipe ALBUQUERQUE, Bruno SENNA LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 28 +11.329 +0.143 6 2:09.885 194.1
18 31 LMP2 Ryan DALZIEL, Luis Felipe DERANI, Christopher CUMMING LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 28 +12.112 +0.783 6 2:10.668 193.0
19 27 LMP2 Nicolas MINASSIAN, Maurizio MEDIANI, Devi MARKOZOV BR01 - Nissan D 25 +12.433 +0.321 9 2:10.989 192.5
20 30 LMP2 Scott SHARP, Ed BROWN, Johannes VAN OVERBEEK LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 29 +12.973 +0.540 23 2:11.529 191.7
21 51 LMGTE Pro Gianmaria BRUNI, James CALADO, Ferrari 488 GTE M 24 +19.938 +6.965 12 2:18.494 182.1
22 97 LMGTE Pro Richie STANAWAY, Fernando REES, Jonathan ADAM Aston Martin Vantage V8 D 32 +20.411 +0.473 4 2:18.967 181.4
23 71 LMGTE Pro Davide RIGON, Sam BIRD, Ferrari 488 GTE M 31 +20.663 +0.252 14 2:19.219 181.1
24 95 LMGTE Pro Nicki THIIM, Marco SØRENSEN, Darren TURNER Aston Martin Vantage V8 D 24 +20.868 +0.205 8 2:19.424 180.8
25 66 LMGTE Pro Billy JOHNSON, Stefan MÜCKE, Olivier PLA Ford GT M 28 +21.408 +0.540 4 2:19.964 180.1
26 83 LMGTE Am François PERRODO, Emmanuel COLLARD, Rui AGUAS Ferrari F458 Italia M 30 +21.574 +0.166 11 2:20.130 179.9
27 86 LMGTE Am Michael WAINWRIGHT, Adam CARROLL, Ben BARKER Porsche 911 RSR M 27 +21.841 +0.267 3 2:20.397 179.6
28 98 LMGTE Am Paul DALLA LANA, Pedro LAMY, Mathias LAUDA Aston Martin Vantage V8 D 27 +22.337 +0.496 9 2:20.893 179.0
29 77 LMGTE Pro Richard LIETZ, Michael CHRISTENSEN, Porsche 911 RSR (2016) M 24 +22.594 +0.257 18 2:21.150 178.6
30 67 LMGTE Pro Marino FRANCHITTI, Andy PRIAULX, Harry TINCKNELL Ford GT M 25 +22.801 +0.207 18 2:21.357 178.4
31 50 LMGTE Am Yutaka YAMAGISHI, Pierre RAGUES, Paolo RUBERTI Chevrolet Corvette C7-Z06 M 26 +22.855 +0.054 25 2:21.411 178.3
32 88 LMGTE Am Khaled AL QUBAISI, David HEINEMEIER HANSSON, Patrick LONG Porsche 911 RSR M 31 +24.228 +1.373 4 2:22.784 176.6
33 8 LMP1 Lucas DI GRASSI, Loïc DUVAL, Oliver JARVIS Audi R18 M 0 0
34 78 LMGTE Am Christian RIED, Wolf HENZLER, Joël CAMATHIAS Porsche 911 RSR M 23 +23.202 +0.347 0

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