🗣️'The game has changed, it’s much nicer.' Jose Maria Lopez says Toyota’s 1-2 finish in the Sebring 1000 Miles is a “very important” result in its FIAWEC title defence against increased Hypercar competition ⬇️
in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, leading the sister #8 car crewed by Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa by just over two seconds.
The significance of Toyota's result wasn’t lost on Lopez, who hailed the Japanese marque for maintaining its advantage in the burgeoning Hypercar class at the start of sportscar racing’s new golden era.“First congratulations to everyone here and the team as well, my team-mates did an amazing job,” said Lopez, whose crash in last year’s Sebring race handed an unlikely win to Alpine.
“The game has changed, it’s much nicer. We are proud to be part of this modern era of endurance racing. Motorsport Images Toyota faced little competition from major manufacturers in the last few years of the WEC, but the introduction of LMH and LMDh regulations has brought back much needed life to the top category, with this year’s Hypercar grid comprising factory entries from Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac and Peugeot - plus additional cars from smaller rivals Glickenhaus and Vanwall.
“With the atmosphere, people get more excited, and when you see Ferrari running in the top category, it’s a completely different world. “But we are still fighting and we are still competitive as Toyota Gazoo Racing, that’s an achievement by [the people in] Japan. I think all the Toyota Gazoo Racing family made a big support for us. That’s made a great job.” Photo by: JEP /Hartley admitted that he was disappointed to lose victory in the eight-hour Sebring race, but felt the two-second finish margin between the two cars showed just how closely matched the Toyotas were in the opening round of the season.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Villeneuve "not worried" about getting on pace in Vanwall at Sebring🗣️'I’m not worried: it’s just a question of getting time in the car and understanding the car.' F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve is confident he can get up to speed in the Vanwall_Racing Le Mans Hypercar ahead of the Sebring FIAWEC opener ⬇️
Read more »
Sebring 12H: Albuquerque tops first practice in WTRAndretti AcuraFilipe Albuquerque\u2019s best effort in the Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 meant he topped the 90-minute first practice session for the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Read more »
Villeneuve "not worried" about getting on pace in Vanwall at SebringFormula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve is confident he can get up to speed in the Vanwall Le Mans Hypercar ahead of this week\u2019s World Endurance Championship opener at Sebring.
Read more »
Sebring 12H: Blomqvist Acura beats Bourdais Cadillac by 0.026s in FP2Meyer Shank Racing\u2019s Tom Blomqvist set the fastest time in the 90-minute second practice session for Saturday\u2019s 12 Hours of Sebring, but Cadillac looks set to challenge Acura for pole.
Read more »
WEC Sebring: Ferrari beats Toyota to first pole of 2023Ferrari stunned Toyota by taking the first pole position of the 2023 World Endurance Championship season ahead of this weekend's Sebring 1000 Miles.
Read more »
WEC Sebring: Fuoco gives Ferrari pole on Hypercar debut over ToyotaFerrari stunned Toyota by taking the first pole position of the 2023 FIAWEC season ahead of this weekend's Sebring 1000 Miles. Antonio Fuoco set the fastest time to beat Toyota's Brendon Hartley by 0.214s on debut with the new 499P ⬇️
Read more »