6H Spa: Toyota plays to its advantage đ„
NO CHANCE FOR REBELLION The Toyota works team dominated the sixth round of the World Endurance Championship in Spa on Saturday, although Rebellion was actually faster. Cool Racing celebrated second place in LMP2. Six hours summarized in three and a half minutes. The highlights show how Toyota was in front from the start behind the safety car. In qualifying, on the list of [...]
Six hours summarized in three and a half minutes. The highlights show how Toyota was in front behind the safety car from the start.
The Rebellion-Gibson #1 was ahead in qualifying, on the list of fastest race lap times and in terms of top speed (307.8 km/h). But as soon as the race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, which had started behind the safety car due to the previous summer thunderstorm, got underway, the two Toyota Gazoo Racing works cars had an unassailable lead.
All-wheel drive advantage for Toyota
On a wet track after the start and during the other wet phases of the 6-hour race, the Toyota TS50 Hybrid with front-wheel drive was able to fully exploit its traction advantage when the electric power was called upon. The team, with SĂ©bastien Buemi at the wheel as the starting driver, was only able to enjoy the lead for a total of seven laps.
From lap 29 to the finish after 143 laps, the Toyota #7 of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and JosĂ© MarĂa LĂłpez was in front. SĂ©bastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley were beaten by 34.1 seconds. They were unlucky once with their tire choice, which put them at the back of the field.
Rebellion stays on the ball
The Rebellion of Bruno Senna, Gustavo Menezes and Norman Nato, which had won the last 6-hour race in Austin (USA) in February, lost one lap and 30 seconds over the distance this time.
With their third triumph of the season, the trio of Spa winners extended their lead in the drivers' world championship over their team-mates to 137:125 points. The Rebellion trio remain within striking distance with 109 points, especially as double points will be awarded at the next WRC round - the 24 Hours of Le Mans on September 19/20.
In the LMP1 team and manufacturers' standings, Toyota is clearly ahead of the British Rebellion team (109), which runs under the Swiss flag, with 151 points.
Second LMP2 place for Cool Racing
Another Swiss team celebrated a great success in the LMP2 class. Cool Racing quickly lost touch with the front runners due to an early driver change. However, Nicolas Lapierre, Antonin Borga and Alexandre Coigny then worked their way back towards the podium.
While the United Autosport trio, who led virtually from the start, took their third victory in a row, the Swiss-French Oreca-Gibson crossed the finish line in second place, just ten seconds ahead of the Dutch team in third. French-Swiss Lapierre and Geneva-based Borga had last stood on the podium as surprise winners at the season opener in Silverstone in September 2019.
