Staff principal and driver of the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing automobile, Kamui Kobayashi has paid tribute to the excellent effort that was put in by the entire staff to safe victory within the Hypercar class on the 6 Hours of Imola. After a troublesome race stuffed with twists and turns, the #7 automobile triumphed within the second spherical of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), propelling the drivers to 2nd within the championship and Toyota to second within the producers’ championship.
“It was a really robust race and to win right here is completely phenomenal. Our automobile was not the quickest this week however the staff carried out so effectively” Kobayashi admitted. He paid tribute to his fellow drivers, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries for getting them into competition from qualifying in sixth. “There was huge stress from the beginning of my stint; I used to be within the lead on slick tyres within the rain. We made the suitable name to modify tyres and construct a niche, then we stored good tempo on the moist tyres.“
Not solely did the rain trigger technique complications, so too did the gasoline ranges come the ultimate phases of the race. “We weren’t positive about gasoline so we began to avoid wasting power and I gave all the things, it was very robust” defined Kobayashi. He was being hunted down by the very fast #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport automobile whereas making an attempt to avoid wasting gasoline concurrently. Ever humble, Kobayashi performed down his half within the victory, saying “the staff did an amazing effort by way of technique and that gave us the possibility to battle for the win. Due to the everybody for his or her improbable work right here.”
Mike Conway, driver of the #7 automobile for the opening stint of the race, was fast to reward his teammate. “It was actually tense all the way in which to the top” the British driver stated. “Kamui did an amazing job on the finish to remain forward while saving power. As at all times the stress doesn’t have an effect on him; I feel my coronary heart charge within the storage was greater than his within the automobile!“
Reflecting on his personal efficiency, Conway stated “initially I stayed out of hassle and tried to maneuver forwards. I had loads of enjoyable and I loved my first time racing right here.” He additionally praised the staff, saying “the crew did an amazing job within the pits and the technique couldn’t have been any higher. Congratulations to the entire staff and everybody at Toyota.“
For a person who’s in his debut WEC season, Nyck de Vries is having fun with a exceptional season to this point. One in every of this highlights of the race in Imola was his astonishing overtake to move Miguel Molina in his Ferrari AF Corse automobile for second place. The Dutchman completely executed a restart after a interval of full course yellow flags, catching the Ferrari napping and pulling off a superb transfer on the run all the way down to Rivazza.
“It’s nice to be again on the highest step of the rostrum” de Vries enthused. “I’m very comfortable and proud to share the automobile with Kamui and Mike, so I actually wish to thank them and the entire staff for his or her excellent job. The efficiency was phenomenal, all of the technique calls had been right, each stint was sturdy, and nobody put a foot fallacious. They executed the race completely and I feel we actually deserve this victory.”
Toyota’s self-confessed purpose earlier than Imola was to get again on the rostrum. Now that they’ve managed to try this in fairly some fashion, particularly with a automobile that they don’t imagine was the quickest on monitor, the reigning champions are again on monitor to battle for the title.
