TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is ready to defend its FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) titles against a large grid of hypercar competition when the 2024 season begins in Qatar on March 2, 2024.
After fending off challenges from Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot, and Porsche last season on its way to a fifth consecutive world title double, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing joins a field of 19 hypercars this season, including newcomers Alpine, BMW, Isotta Fraschini and Lamborghini.
An experienced and proven line-up will be in the driving seat. In the No. 7 GR010 Hybrid, Mike Conway, 10 years on from his debut with the team, races alongside Team Principal Kamui Kobayashi and newcomer Nyck de Vries, a former TOYOTA GAZOO racing test and reserve driver.
“The competition in hypercar will be harder than ever this season and we are looking forward to it. It will be tougher to succeed, but that makes it even more special and everyone is really motivated,” said Kobayashi.
“Last year we won the World Championship but we missed out at Le Mans, which is our biggest goal for this year. In endurance racing, success is not only about performance; you need teamwork with all mechanics, engineers and drivers working perfectly. Against such tough competition, we need to push even harder, and we need a top job from everyone; that’s the challenge this season,” he added.
Reigning World Champions Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa will challenge for a third consecutive crown in the No. 8 GR010 Hybrid. Sébastien and Brendon are the joint most successful drivers in World Endurance Championship (WEC) history with four titles, while Ryo has won the World Championship in each of his two hypercar seasons.
The GR010 Hybrid Hypercar has won 16 of its 19 races since its 2021 debut. The car’s appearance takes on a striking updated identity for 2024. An all-new matt black livery represents TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s commitment to making ever-better motorsports-bred cars and continuous evolution, refining its hybrid technologies through competition in endurance racing.
It has also been optimized for reliability via detailed modifications to selected internal components, although the most visible technical change concerns the front headlights. Using driver feedback, the LED specification has been changed to reduce glare, for better visibility in wet conditions and at night. To optimise pit stop efficiency at the anti-clockwise circuits in Austin and Brazil, the GR010 Hybrid has also been modified to allow for refuelling on the left side of the car, for the first time.
Technical contributions
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing continues to benefit from the technical contribution of long-term partners. Denso contributes to the GR010 Hybrid’s front motor alongside AISIN while also supplying high-performance spark plugs. RAYS delivers lightweight magnesium alloy wheels and Mobil 1 is the lubricant of choice.
In line with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s dedication to pursuing a carbon neutral future for motorsport, the GR010 Hybrid again uses 100-percent renewable biofuel fuel which reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by at least 65 percent. To further contribute to sustainability, tyre pre-heating is not permitted at any race.
Complimenting those on-track sustainability efforts, the team’s base in Cologne, Germany recently took steps to reduce CO2 emissions by around 1,400 metric tons a year through a new central cooling facility, marking another important step on its journey to carbon neutrality.
The latest GR010 Hybird made public debut during WEC’s official Prologue pre-season test, held at Lusail International Circuit in Qatar, on February 24-25, 2024, a track first experienced by TOYOTA GAZOO Racing during a pre-season test session in late November.
The 5.380-kilometer circuit will also host the first of eight races in 2024, the inaugural Qatar 1812 KM. It takes place on March 2 and runs for 1,812 kilometers – in tribute to the Gulf state’s December 18 national day – or a maximum of 10 hours.
After Qatar, a European leg features Imola in Italy (21 April) and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium (11 May) prior to the Le Mans 24 Hours on June 15-16. Trips across the Atlantic follow for events in Sao Paulo, Brazil (14 July) and Austin, Texas (1 September) before the team’s home race at Fuji Speedway (15 September) and the traditional season finale in Bahrain on 2 November.
