As one of eight manufacturers alongside Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot and Porsche in a strong Hypercar field, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing takes on the challenge of eight races this year, including the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours.

Qatar hosts the season-opener on Friday when the team’s mission to retain its manufacturers’ World Championship, regain the drivers’ world title and once again stand on the top step of the Le Mans podium will begin in earnest.

Two 90-minute free practice sessions in Qatar marked the start of the season and illustrated the intense competition among the 18 Hypercars. At the end of three hours of practice, the #8 of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa was the lead GR010 HYBRID in sixth, with the #7 crew of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries in 13th after a constructive day in challenging conditions.

Following the two-day Prologue last week, the team’s engineers and drivers had prepared for today’s action by analysing data from the GR010 HYBRIDs and the Michelin tyres, working to optimise performance for the race. Meanwhile, all six drivers also joined local Toyota colleagues on Sunday for a lap time competition with GR Yaris Cup Qatar race cars, sharing the excitement of motorsports. Visitors to Lusail International Circuit can also get their own taste of the GR Yaris Cup Qatar via a TOYOTA GAZOO Racing display in the fan zone.

When free practice began late on windy Wednesday morning, both GR010 HYBRIDs remained in the garage for almost 10 minutes to assess conditions, which had changed since the Prologue due to a change in wind direction causing sand to be blown on to the racing line. Eventually, both cars began on-track preparations for Friday’s race, working on tyres and car set-ups.

Nyck and Brendon set the fastest laps for their respective cars. The #7 was 13th and the #8 fourth on the timing sheets in a close session which was interrupted by a 10-minute red flag and ended with less than a second separating the quickest 11 cars.

Second practice started in daylight and ran into darkness, with floodlights illuminating Lusail International Circuit as the team carried out more tyre and race preparations. Brendon made the most of an early lap with lower fuel load to record the best time for the #8, sixth overall. Nyck waited until later in the session to test a qualifying set-up and register the best lap in the #7, putting that car 13th on the timing sheets.

The team will now work on improvements prior to third practice on Thursday lunchtime, which is the final opportunity to try new settings before qualifying and Hyperpole later in the day (5.40pm local, 3.40pm CET). The race starts at 2pm (midday CET) on Friday 28 February.