WEC

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing looking to continue momentum as WEC moves to Monza

Motorsport Technology
05 Jul 2022
3 min read

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WEC team, partnered by Acronis, will be looking to build on their historic fifth successive 24 Hours of Le Mans race victory as the World Endurance Championship season moves onto yet another historic race venue in Monza.

Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and debutant Ryo Hirakawa will surely still be riding the crest of a wave following their victory at La Sarthe, heading home teammates Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López after the sister #7 GR010 HYBRID suffered a front motor issue that cost them the chance of another Le Mans victory.

It leaves the championship excitingly poised, the #8 GR010 HYBRID trio now just three points behind the leading Alpine drivers with the #7 team 20 behind.

“Obviously it was fantastic to win Le Mans again and, looking to the rest of the season, the double points puts us back in the fight for the World Championship which is great,” commented Sébastien Buemi on his team’s press release.

“I am sure it will be close again with the #7 car; we saw at Le Mans that there is nothing between the two crews and it all comes down to small details. I am looking forward to continuing that fight at Monza, which is a circuit I really enjoy.

“It’s great to race in Italy, where I have spent a lot of time over the years; it’s always nice to be back and to meet the Italian fans, who are so enthusiastic and welcoming.”

For Hirakawa, Monza represents another chance to secure another race victory with the Japanese driver now full of confidence during his first season driving for the historic LMP1 team.

“It has been an amazing few weeks and finally I am getting used to the fact that we won Le Mans,” added Hirakawa. “It was an incredible and intense experience, and I am so grateful to the whole team, particularly Sébastien and Brendon, for helping me to achieve my dream. Now I am looking forward to racing at Monza again.

“I have good memories of the track from my time in LMP2; I won there in the European Le Mans Series in 2017 after a close race. So far it has been a good circuit for me and it’s fun to drive, very high speed and quite challenging. I can’t wait to experience the GR010 HYBRID there for the first time.”

And whilst Kamui Kobayashi will surely be more than happy with his compatriot’s Le Mans success, the Team Principal and #7 driver will surely be hoping to get back to winning ways in Italy.

“It is only a few weeks since Le Mans but we have used that time to get ready for Monza,” added Kobayashi. “We were strong there last year and Mike, José and I won the race so that is the target again. But first we need to work hard through the practice sessions to prepare the car, find the right direction on the set-up and put ourselves in a strong position to fight for another victory.”

Acronis are proud to be the official Artificial Intelligence Partner of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team, helping the team perform to the best of their capabilities through machine learning. To find out more, please visit https://www.acronis.com/en-us/lp/msp-sports/

 

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