How stumbling Toyota drew first blood in the WEC's new era

By:

Gary Watkins

May 4, 2021, 10:37 AM

Amid concerns that the new Hypercar class would be upstaged on debut by the spec LMP2 machines at Spa, Toyota delivered the pole and victory that the vast majority of observers expected. But neither car had a clean run, which gave the grandfathered Alpine LMP1 an unexpected shot at glory

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It was a messy race for Toyota and perhaps a messy start to the Hypercar era for the World Endurance Championship. The Japanese manufacturer won last Saturday’s Spa 6 Hours with Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima, but its pair of GR010 HYBRIDs didn’t have what might be described as clean races. And the politics that many are predicting will be ever-present in the new formula of top-class prototype racing was never far away.

Toyota triumphed on a day when a pretty straightforward run for the Signatech Alpine squad’s grandfathered LMP1 car wasn’t enough to overcome two new Le Mans Hypercars that suffered a series of hiccups. Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere split the GR010s at the chequered flag, but ended up just over a minute behind the #8 car in second place.

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Gary Watkins

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Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.