WEC: Toyotas run 1-2 in Practice 2 at Sebring

–by Mark Cipolloni–

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing stepped up preparations for the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season opener by setting a new Hypercar milestone when practice began for the 1000 Miles of Sebring.

Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest lap of the day, 1min 46.954secs, in the #7 GR010 HYBRID he shares with Mike Conway and José María López. That is the quickest lap ever for a Hypercar in an official WEC session at the historic Sebring circuit.

A promising day ended with the #8 GR010 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa in second place, just 0.318secs behind.

World Champions and 2022 Le Mans winners TOYOTA GAZOO Racing therefore finished on top of an 11-car Hypercar field, featuring new competitors Cadillac, Ferrari, Porsche and Vanwall as well as existing rivals Glickenhaus and Peugeot.

“It has gone quite okay today,” said Kobayashi. “We have been trying to adjust our car to the different conditions and we need to continue improving the balance. I only drove in the afternoon, and it was nice to be fastest, but I think I could have improved my lap. So far, the team is doing a great job but it’s still too early to say what the competitive situation really is. Our program is going smoothly so we are happy with where we stand at the moment.”

The #50 Ferrari 499P Hypercar with Antonio Fuoco at the wheel was 3rd quick, 1.167s behind the Toyota.

Alex Lynn was 4th fastest in the #2 Ganassi Cadillac, 1.311s back while Alessandro Pier Guidi rounded out the top-5 in the Hypercar class in the #51 Ferrari.

The JOTA #28 driven by David Heinemeier-Hansson topped the LMP2 class with a lap of 1m50.326s

The #57 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Kessel Racing, with Takeshi Kimura at the wheel led the GTE class with a lap of 1m58.845s

Qualifying is Thursday, with the 1,000-mile race on Friday. The teams will take have one more practice session tomorrow morning from 11:55 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. ET before the Hypercar class qualifying window takes place in the evening from 7:20 – 7:35 p.m. ET.

Practice 2 Results

POS	NO.	CLASS	TEAM	FASTEST DRIVER	CAR	TIME	BEHIND	LAPS
1	7	Hypercar H	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Kamui Kobayashi	Toyota GR010 HYBRID	1:46.954	0.000	25
2	8	Hypercar H	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Buemi Sébastien	Toyota GR010 HYBRID	1:47.272	0.318	24
3	50	Hypercar H	Ferrari AF Corse	Fuoco Antonio	Ferrari 499P	1:48.121	1.167	22
4	2	Hypercar H	Cadillac Racing	Lynn Alex	Cadillac V-Series.R	1:48.265	1.311	22
5	51	Hypercar H	Ferrari AF Corse	Pier Guidi Alessandro	Ferrari 499P	1:48.606	1.652	23
6	708	Hypercar	Glickenhaus Racing	Briscoe Ryan	Glickenhaus 007	1:49.700	2.746	21
7	5	Hypercar H	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Christensen Michael	Porsche 963	1:49.782	2.828	23
8	28	LM P2	Jota	Heinemeier-Hansson David	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:50.326	3.372	23
9	94	Hypercar H	Peugeot Totalenergies	Menezes Gustavo	Peugeot 9X8	1:50.378	3.424	23
10	22	LM P2	United Autosports	Albuquerque Filipe	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:50.701	3.747	23
11	23	LM P2	United Autosports	Pierson Joshua	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:50.708	3.754	22
12	48	LM P2	Hertz Team Jota	Stevens William	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:50.827	3.873	24
13	10	LM P2	Vector Sport	Kaiser Matthias	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:50.902	3.948	21
14	93	Hypercar H	Peugeot Totalenergies	Di Resta Paul	Peugeot 9X8	1:50.914	3.960	23
15	41	LM P2	Team WRT	Kubica Robert	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:50.918	3.964	23
16	6	Hypercar H	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Lotterer André	Porsche 963	1:51.060	4.106	19
17	36	LM P2	Alpine Elf Team	Canal Julien	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:51.229	4.275	24
18	35	LM P2	Alpine Elf Team	Negrão André	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:51.415	4.461	22
19	4	Hypercar	Floyd Vanwall Racing Team	Dillmann Tom	Vanwall Vandervell 680	1:51.524	4.570	17
20	9	LM P2	Prema Racing	Viscaal Bent	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:51.722	4.768	23
21	34	LM P2	Inter Europol Competition	Smiechowski Jakub	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:52.144	5.190	20
22	63	LM P2	Prema Racing	Pin Doriane	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:52.457	5.503	21
23	31	LM P2	Team WRT	Frijns Robin	Oreca 07 – Gibson	1:52.819	5.865	12
24	57	LM GTE Am	Kessel Racing	Kimura Takeshi	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	1:58.845	11.891	20
25	33	LM GTE Am	Corvette Racing	Varrone Nicolas	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R	1:59.122	12.168	20
26	777	LM GTE Am	D’station Racing	Hoshino Satoshi	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	1:59.156	12.202	22
27	60	LM GTE Am	Iron Lynx	Schiavoni Claudio	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	1:59.160	12.206	21
28	54	LM GTE Am	AF Corse	Flohr Thomas	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	1:59.191	12.237	20
29	86	LM GTE Am	Gr Racing	Wainwright Michael	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	1:59.331	12.377	21
30	21	LM GTE Am	AF Corse	De Pauw Ulysse	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	1:59.496	12.542	21
31	77	LM GTE Am	Dempsey – Proton Racing	Andlauer Julien	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	1:59.506	12.552	19
32	98	LM GTE Am	Northwest Amr	Thiim Nicki	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	1:59.689	12.735	20
33	83	LM GTE Am	Richard Mille AF Corse	Rovera Alessio	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	2:00.011	13.057	22
34	25	LM GTE Am	Ort By TF	Dinan Michael	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	2:00.041	13.087	21
35	56	LM GTE Am	Project 1 – Ao	Hyett Pj	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	2:00.080	13.126	20
36	85	LM GTE Am	Iron Dames	Frey Rahel	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	2:00.186	13.232	19
37	88	LM GTE Am	Proton Competition	Hardwick Ryan	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	2:01.261	14.307	4