An intense team effort, committed driving and bold strategy put the GR010 HYBRIDs in the fight for victory despite their revised power and weight parameters at Fuji, but TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s run of six consecutive home wins ultimately ended in frustration.
In front of 65,800 enthusiastic fans, a battling drive from Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa in their #8 GR010 HYBRID looked to have earned a podium until a late penalty dropped them down to 10th place.
The #7 GR010 HYBRID of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries had led with two hours to go but were forced to retire due to accident damage. That effectively ends the World Championship challenge of Kamui and Nyck with one race remaining.
The team found itself on the back foot from the opening stages. Either side of a lap-two safety car, Sébastien dropped from second to fourth while Mike also lost ground from fourth on the grid, and spent the first stint in fifth, behind the #8.
Further position changes saw the second hour end with Mike still in fifth, but Sébastien now sixth, although those positions were swapped soon after when the #7 GR010 HYBRID suffered tyre degradation, causing it to pit earlier than planned. Nyck took over while Brendon replaced Sébastien soon after.
Despite the tough start, the team’s fuel and tyre strategy started to pay off. After half distance, Nyck overtook the #15 BMW and the #50 Ferrari then overhauled the #6 Porsche in the pits to lead. The #8 also made progress and Brendon boldly passed two Ferraris before handing over to Ryo, who joined the podium fight.
After almost four hours of intense competition, Kamui took over for two stints to hunt down the victory, with both cars now in a stronger strategic position in terms of fuel and tyres than their rivals. But a virtual safety car early in the fifth hour took away that advantage by giving all Hypercars the chance to pit and lose less time compared to doing so under racing conditions.
A 90-minute sprint to the flag saw Ryo initially hold third before the #35 Alpine overtook. The #7 fared worse when Kamui and the #5 Porsche made contact in the battle for eighth. Damage to the rear suspension and bodywork could not be repaired in time, so the car was retired with an hour remaining.
Ryo pushed hard to bring the #8 back onto the podium in the final hour, overtaking both JOTA Porsches and then moving into a comfortable third after a penalty for the #35 Alpine. But with 16 minutes to go, the #8 incurred its own drive-through penalty, for an incident with the leading #6 Porsche, and Ryo finished 10th, 58.879secs behind the winner.
Despite the very frustrating result, the team is already focused on retaining its manufacturers’ title in a showdown in Bahrain on 2 November when the fight for the World Championship will be concluded. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is just 10 points behind leaders Porsche going into the eighth and final race of 2024.