MOTORSPORT - TOYOTA Gazoo Racing’s (TGR) preparations to challenge for a sixth victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours stepped up a gear when the 62-car field hit the Circuit de la Sarthe for the first time this year during an official test day.
The highly anticipated race takes place this Saturday and Sunday as the fourth round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
TGR’s 2025-specification GR010 Hybrids – featuring a unique combination of liveries to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Toyota’s Le Mans debut – completed a trouble-free day as the team and drivers fine-tuned the cars in preparation to fight at the front of a 21-strong Hypercar grid, representing eight manufacturers.
The #8 GR010 of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa ended the day fastest thanks to a lap of three minutes 26.246 seconds in the day’s second session.
The AF Corse trio of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Philip Hanson in their Ferrari 499P Hypercar were atop the timesheet in the first session with a best lap of 3:27.010, with Buemi, Hartley, Hirakawa just 0.990s behind.
“I always enjoy coming back to this circuit; it’s a real pleasure to drive a Hypercar around here, and of course, it’s nice to set the fastest lap obviously – but there are a lot of fast cars out there,” said Buemi.
“We did a lot of laps, made some changes which were good, others which were less so, but that’s part of the process.
“We will analyse everything and see where we can improve. Plus, the weather conditions might be a bit different next week, so we need to get ready to adapt to that as well.”
The two three-hour sessions are the only opportunity to test at the Circuit de la Sarthe prior to race week, so the team wasted no time in kicking off a comprehensive programme.
The 13.626km circuit consists partly of public roads, so track conditions evolve – and lap times fall – as the cars sweep the surface clean and add a layer of tyre rubber.
Track action continues tomorrow with two practice sessions, which take place either side of qualifying.
A third practice and the Hyperpole sessions will then be held on Thursday, ahead of the official start of the 24-hour race at 5pm, Bahrain time. The Le Mans 24 Hours marks the midway point of the 2025 WEC calendar.
The season is set to come to a close with the eighth and final round, the 8 Hours of Bahrain, on November 8.
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