Toyota GAZOO Racing experienced a difficult Six Hours of Circuit of the Americas but nevertheless scored its best result since the opening round of the 2015 World Endurance Championship.
Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima finished fourth in the #1 TS040 Hybrid while the #2 of Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway retired from the race following an accident midway through the race.
The result leaves reigning World Champions Toyota third in the manufacturers’ standings with three races remaining, 119 points behind leaders Porsche. While the race finished in full darkness, six hours earlier it began in blazing sunshine with 33°C air temperatures, promising tough conditions for the drivers inside the closed-cockpit cars.
Sébastien and Alex took the start from fifth and sixth respectively. Although Sébastien briefly took fourth place on the opening laps, the race soon settled into a rhythm with the #1 holding fifth and its sister car directly behind.
The hot conditions required a change of driver and tyres at each pit stop, during which the pit crews, wearing fireproof overalls for the entire six hours, performed flawlessly and kept the time spent in the pits by the TS040 Hybrids to a minimum.
Around the one-third distance mark, both TS040 Hybrids experienced minor dramas. Firstly, Anthony encountered a problem entering the pit lane and needed to complete a very slow lap to avoid running out of fuel, dropping to sixth in the process.
A little while later, following a 12-minute full course yellow for an LMP2 accident, Mike in the #2 car found himself squeezed by two GT cars whilst fighting his way through traffic. He spun to avoid contact but rejoined still in fifth.
Unfortunately, the #2 did not escape unscathed at the half-distance mark when Mike lost control lapping slower traffic and hit the wall at turn 11. The car sustained damage at the front and rear, retiring from the race on the spot.
Shortly after, the #1 was forced to take a stop and go penalty for the earlier pit-entry incident but from there on, its race went without further issue and it gained a position when the Porsche #18 suffered a technical issue. Kazuki crossed the line to take the chequered flag in fourth, two laps behind the winning Porsche #17.
WEC heads to Asia for its next two races, starting on Toyota’s home ground in Japan for the Six Hours of Fuji on 11 October prior to a trip to Shanghai in China on 1 November. Bahrain hosts the season finale on 21 November.
