Toyota Racing claimed their first-ever victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) after winning the Six Hours of Sao Paulo at Interlagos.
Drivers Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre steered their TS030 Hybrid to first place in what was only the third race for the Japanese squad. Toyota started from pole position and maintained their lead throughout the duration of the event en route to finishing more than a minute clear of the field to secure an impressive pole-to-flag triumph.
Audi placed teams in second and third place, respectively. The trio of Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer in an Audi R18 e-tron quattro were the runners-up; while Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Lucas di Grassi captured the last podium position.
All three teams finished with 247 laps apiece competing in the LMP1 category.
“It is a great feeling to win here with Toyota Racing in only our third race,” Wurz, said. “It was not easy and we pushed like crazy.”
“This is fantastic win for all the team. Since the beginning, we know we have a fast car. Alex did a wonderful job in qualifying to get the pole and during the race we managed the tyres well. The car was handling very well throughout the whole day and the hybrid system gave us again an incredible performance. It is simply wonderful,” Lapierre added.
Elsewhere at Sao Paulo, winning the LMP2 category was the Starworks Motorsports trio of Vicente Potolicchio, Ryan Dalziel and Stephane Sarrazin in an HPD ARX 03b Honda.
AF Corse tandem Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni won in the LMGTE Pro class in a Ferrari F458 Italia; while Larbre Competition teammates Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal and Fernando Rees won the LMGTE Am class in a Chevrolet Corvette C6-ZR1.
Following Sao Paulo, the inaugural season of the WEC heads into is final three rounds, the next of which is the Six Hours of Bahrain.
It will be the WEC’s first and only stop in the Middle East in this, the championship’s first season.
BIC has put together an action-packed programme filled with fun and entertainment both on and off the race track for the whole weekend. Apart from the WEC, the first round of the season in the BIC 2,000cc Challenge will be taking place; while a wide array of family friendly activities will offer attendees something to enjoy outside of the racing.
The Six Hours of Bahrain weekend will be capped off with a highly anticipated live performance by Arab singing sensation Majid Al Mohandis on Race Day.