WEC: Toyota defeats Ferrari at Monza

Toyota Gazoo Racing have got their 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship title fight back on track after the Japanese manufacturer won today’s 6 Hours of Monza, round five of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

With 65,000 fans in attendance over three days in sweltering hot conditions, today’s race saw action from start to finish including three different manufacturers on the overall Hypercar podium – Toyota, Ferrari and Peugeot.

Monza race winners Mike Conway, Jose-Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi crossed the finish line in the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid 16.250s ahead of the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hypercar driven by Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina.

A determined comeback drive from Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa in the #8 GR010 HYBRID saw the World Champions recover from the back of the field. They crossed the line fourth but were handed a post-race penalty and dropped to sixth.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s fourth win of the season is the perfect response to a frustrating Le Mans 24 Hours and extends the team’s World Championship lead to 26 points. Victory brings the #7 crew back into the drivers’ title race and they now lie second, 23 points behind their #8 colleagues.

On another warm summer day, the action on track was equally hot from the opening lap when Conway led the 36-car field into the tight first chicane from pole position. He jostled for the lead, but Sébastien, starting third, made contact with the #51 Ferrari and dropped to eighth.

After 15 minutes, Conway led from the #50 Ferrari and #93 Peugeot, when an incident between the #8 and a GT car brought out the safety car again. The #8 was not damaged but its chances were hit when stewards imposed a 10secs penalty for the first incident and a further 60secs for the second.

The safety car brought the chasing pack right on Conway’s tail and when racing resumed he dropped to third. Sébastien took his 60 secs penalty and resumed in 34th place, losing a lap to the leader soon after.

Conway put pressure on the leaders as the first pit stops approached at the one-hour mark, but lost valuable seconds when maneuvering around a car pitting in the adjacent garage. At his stop, Sébastien served his other penalty and began the #8 car’s fightback.

Third-placed Conway was the quickest car on track in his second stint on the hard tires and moved into the lead during the next pit stops. José continued the battle, fighting past the #5 Porsche to effectively lead the race shortly before an LMP2 incident caused a safety car early in the third hour.

When off-strategy rivals pitted behind the safety car, José hit the front and began building an advantage over the #50 Ferrari, twice setting new fastest laps in the process. Meanwhile the #8, now with Ryo at the wheel, fought its way up to seventh.

Smart strategy and a string of quick laps from Ryo helped the #8 return to the lead lap by the time Brendon took over to push for a top-six finish. At the front, José’s efforts during the fourth hour paid off and he handed over the #7 to Kamui with a substantial advantage over the two Ferraris.

However, a safety car eliminated that 45 secs gap and set up an exciting last 90 minutes with Kamui defending a slender lead from the #50 Ferrari. The #8 car’s misfortune continued when they had to make an emergency fuel stop under the safety car, and then a full pit stop when racing resumed, dropping Brendon to eighth.

Kamui set about rebuilding his advantage and led by around 10 secs when he made his final pit stop with 45 minutes to go, after minimizing the time lost on old tires compared to the Ferrari on new tires. An exceptional pit stop by the mechanics helped Kamui return to the track ahead of his rival.

With fresh rubber, Kamui set the fastest lap and pulled clear to win by 16.520secs from the #50 Ferrari. The #8 crew’s never-give-up approach paid dividends as Brendon battled into fourth place in a frantic final 15 minutes by overtaking their World Championship rivals in the #51 Ferrari, and the #5 Porsche. Post-race, the #8 was handed a 50secs penalty for briefly and unintentionally exceeding a powertrain power limit on one lap.

LMP2

In LMP2, complex and exhilarating LMP2 battle went the way of JOTA after a tight battle with the No.31 Team WRT entry in the last 90-minutes of the race. David Heinemeier Hansson, Pietro Fittipaldi and Oliver Rasmussen took their first victory of the season after a complex race of strategy saw the trio lead the 12-car field home.

GTE-AM

Meanwhile, Dempsey-Proton Racing trio Christian Ried, Julien Andlauer and Mikkel Pedersen took a stealthy victory while Ben Keating, Nicolas Varrone and Nicky Catsburg sealed the title with two rounds remaining.

The No.77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR-19 made its way through the field in strong fashion making one fewer pitstop than the No.60 Iron Lynx Porsche of Matteo Cressoni, Alessio Picariello and Claudio Schiavoni who trailed the winners by just 11.184 seconds.

It’s been a dream season for Corvette Racing with three victories – the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1000 Miles of Sebring and Six Hours Portimão – in addition to a runner-up finish at the Six Hours of Spa.

“Congratulations to Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone on their championship in the first year for Corvette Racing in the World Endurance Championship’s GTE Am class,” said Mark Stielow, Director, Chevrolet Motorsports Competition Engineering.

“This was not an easy accomplishment despite the results this season. The strategy and execution by the entire Corvette Racing team – the drivers, the crew and the engineers – has been excellent throughout the season. This was a deep and competitive class and we are grateful that Corvette Racing has come out on top. It gives us great momentum going into the end of the season and 2024 when the Corvette Z06 GT3.R customer program arrives in WEC.”

Next in the 2023 FIA WEC calendar is the 6 Hours of Fuji as the World Championship prepares for its first trip to Asia this year for the Japanese classic which takes place at the iconic Fuji Speedway (8-10 September).

Winning Hypercar Driver Quotes

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “I am very happy with that result. It was a really close battle, and we had to push hard because the competition was very strong. The key was making no mistakes throughout the race and managing the tires. I had a long stint at the end which was hard and quite tense. But it was great to fight with Ferrari and, after our result at Le Mans, it is nice to get a bit of revenge over them today. Thanks to the team, as well as our partners and sponsors who really supported us a lot after Le Mans. This was a good team result after car #8 fought back to score good points. They showed why it’s important to never give up. We have two races to go and we will do our best to win both World Championships. I am sure it will be a close fight.”

Mike Conway (Driver, car #7): “It’s nice to beat Ferrari on their home ground so big thanks to the crew and my team-mates. The pit stops were really solid, particularly the last one which was mega and helped us stay in front, and all the calls from the pit wall worked out well too. It feels good to win again and get a decent haul of points for the team. We had to really fight for it. We knew this race would be all about tire management and there were some different strategies going on out there. We executed our plan well and whenever we lost ground, with getting the hard tires up to temperature or a safety car, we managed to claw it back. José drove well to build a gap and Kamui put in a very strong last stint to win it.”

José María López (Driver, car #7): “After a tough Le Mans, it was important to bounce back and everyone did a fantastic job. It was a tough race, but the car felt good. We had a strong pace, perfect pit stops and the right strategy. It feels great to get our third win of the year, especially because this puts us back in the game for the World Championship. I felt very comfortable in the car. I could attack, get into the lead and build up a nice gap. At the same time, you always know that in endurance racing the gap can be reset very quickly and the safety car made it tricky at the end for Kamui. He had a really hard job, but we finished on top, and it feels nice to win at a track like this in front of the tifosi.”

Race Results