“It was a real team effort as well, and it’s not often you take a race victory with a feeling like that. There was an amazing crowd at Imola and the podium was a beautiful moment. It felt like a special day.”
The Imola race was the 100th World Endurance Championship (WEC) race with hybrid power, and more importantly from Toyota’s point of view, it was the Japanese manufacturer’s 50th victory.
The Toyota TR010 Hybrid in action during the WEC championship opener at Imola. Photo / Toyota Racing PR
Hartley’s car started from the front row and the Kiwi ran third in his opening stint. A slick first pit stop moved the team into second, with Hirakawa moving into the lead by half race distance. He pulled a small gap over the chasing Ferrari, which Buemi extended in the final two hours, and despite tricky track conditions during a light shower, managed to hold off the chasing pack until the chequered flag.
The team take that winning momentum into the second of eight rounds this season at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps track, a favourite for many drivers and fans. At just over 7km long, the circuit winds through the Ardennes forest and is made up of fast, undulating sectors at the start and end, separated by a tight, more technical middle stretch. And of course there’s the fan favourite – the high-speed and butt-clenching Eau Rouge corner.
Spa-Francorchamps is the last competitive outing for all the teams before preparations start for the Le Mans 24 Hour on June 13-14. Drivers, mechanics and engineers will be working hard to gain as much data as possible from high-speed corners at Spa like Raidillon, Pouhon and Blanchimont, as well as the long, flat-out Kemmel Straight, that require car set-ups similar to the Circuit de la Sarthe.
“I think for almost every driver, Spa is one of the most challenging and rewarding circuits. It’s an old-school circuit, with undulations and some fast corners,” Hartley said.
The Toyota TR010 Hybrid at speed during the Imola race. Photo / Toyota Racing PR
“You need to be precise and committed; it’s a real drivers’ track. Our season started really well with victory on the car’s debut, so we’ll be pushing to keep that form going at Spa and then into Le Mans.”
The first hit-out at Spa consisted of two 90-minute free practices. In the first practice the Toyota engineers were using the first run at Spa to test specific set-ups for the track, and Hartley’s No 8 car was 13th-fastest and the sister No 7 car was 10th.
However, the second practice was different once the cars were dialled in, with Hartley and Kobayashi setting the best times of the day in their respective cars.
“It was a smooth day with no major dramas. It’s obviously very competitive at the front, which is exactly what we expected.
“We are lacking a little bit, particularly compared to Imola. But we are also working hard to try to extract a bit more lap time out of the car,” Hartley said.
The race gets underway at 12am on Sunday NZ time.