Toyota City, Japan, Aug 23, 2024 - (JCN Newswire) - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing aims to maintain momentum in its challenge for FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) titles when the 2024 season moves to Austin, Texas for the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas on 1 September.
An accomplished victory in São Paulo in the last round sees TOYOTA GAZOO Racing just four points behind leaders Porsche in a hard-fought battle for the manufacturers’ World Championship heading to the United States for round six of the season.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries showed the pace of their #7 GR010 HYBRID by earning pole position and leading the early stages in São Paulo before a technical issue saw them finish fourth. They will challenge for their second victory of the year in Austin, where the team has yet to win in six attempts.
Out front in Brazil, reigning World Champions Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa won for the first time this season in their #8 GR010 HYBRID. That victory ensured Sébastien, who is tied with Brendon with the most titles on four, set a new record of 25 WEC race wins.
The heat of a Texan summer awaits the team and drivers at the 5.513km Circuit of the Americas in the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans race, which returns to the WEC calendar for the first time since 2020.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has a best finish of second place in its six visits so far to Texas, achieved in 2013 and 2020, while Brendon has won the race three times. Although the team has yet to taste victory in Austin, it has achieved two wins in the United States, at Sebring in 2019 and 2023.
The Circuit of the Americas is, like Interlagos last time out, an anti-clockwise track, characterised by the steep hill up to turn one followed by a sequence of sweeping, fast corners which create a spectacular opening sector.
The team made an early start to its preparations for next week’s race with a three-day test in Austin at the end of July. Preparations step up a gear when track action starts on Friday 30 August with three hours of free practice in the afternoon split over two sessions. After a one-hour final practice on Saturday morning, the starting order will be decided during qualifying and Hyperpole, starting at 3.40pm local time (10.40pm CEST). The seventh Lone Star Le Mans race starts at 1pm (8pm CEST) on Sunday 1 September.
For more information, visit https://toyotagazooracing.com/wec/release/2024/rd06-preview/.