Following a successful debut season in 2021, which saw the GR010 Hybrid Hypercar winning the Le Mans 24 Hours at WEC and both World Championships, an updated hybrid electric-powered, 700 PS Hypercar has returned to action for this year’s season. The 2022-specification GR010 Hybrid has seen minor modifications to the bodywork, including tire and wheel size compared to its predecessor. In addition, the settings of its 3.5-liter engine have been adjusted to accommodate a new 100% renewable fuel introduced to WEC, which contributes to ongoing efforts to increase sustainability in motorsport.


Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, commented: “As the second year of the Hypercar challenge gets underway with a stunning performance from GAZOO Racing, I congratulate Sébastien, Brendon, and Ryo on their hard-earned podium finish amid a challenging race. Our learnings from this race will help us to create vehicles that can be driven with confidence. The strict balance of performance adopted this season will contribute to the evolution of technology and skills as we strive to make ever-better cars in pursuit of victory. For the fans, I am confident that this team will continue to evolve; the stronger the team, the stronger and faster the car. Thank you for your warm support this season!” 


With Sebastien at the wheel, the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid started the race with the fourth position on the grid and quickly moved up to third within four laps. The vehicle was in second place after its first pit stop for a fuel top-up just before the hour mark. The race was red-flagged for 34 minutes because of an accident, which proved to be unfortunate timing for the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid. Brendon had to make an emergency fuel stop during the safety car restart before a full pit stop as soon as racing resumed a lap later. 


Ryo took over the vehicle to make his WEC race debut. He completed an impressive double stint to extend the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid’s advantage over the third-placed competitor car before Sébastien took over the wheel for a final stint. With just over an hour remaining, the threat of lightning caused a red flag and, despite a brief attempt to restart behind the safety car, the race never resumed. 


Over the years, Toyota has been participating in many different forms of motorsports, ‎including Formula One, the World Endurance Championship (WEC), and the Nürburgring 24 ‎Hours endurance race. Toyota’s participation in these events was overseen by separate ‎entities within the company until April 2015, when Toyota established GR, ‎to consolidate all of its motorsport’s activities under one in-house brand. Representing ‎Toyota’s belief that ‘the roads build the people, and the people build the cars,’ GR highlights the role of motorsports as a fundamental pillar of Toyota’s commitment to ‎making ‘ever-better’ cars. Harnessing years of experience gained under the extreme ‎conditions of various motorsports events, GR aims to forge new ‎technologies and solutions that bring the freedom, adventure, and joy of driving to everyone. 


The 2022 season continues in Europe, with the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on 7 May. 


Race Notes:


• No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar (Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa)
o Position: 2nd 
o No. of Laps: 194 
o Best Lap: 1’50.355