Sep 13, 2022 | Business
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing achieved a perfect one-two victory in the 6 Hours of Fuji to celebrate the return of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) to Japan in impressive style.
Fuji Speedway hosted WEC for the first time since 2019 and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing strengthened its World Championship challenge and celebrated a memorable homecoming by winning on the GR010 HYBRID Hypercar’s Japanese debut.
Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa delivered a flawless performance in the #8 GR010 HYBRID to earn their second victory of the season, adding to their Le Mans 24 Hours triumph and delivering the team’s eighth win in nine races at Fuji Speedway.
World Champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez took second place in their #7 GR010 HYBRID, 1min 8.382secs behind, to complete a hard-earned clean sweep in the penultimate round of the 2022 WEC season.
Maximum points from its home race brings TOYOTA GAZOO Racing a big step closer to retaining its manufacturers’ World Championship, extending its lead to 26 over Alpine, who finished third at Fuji while the #8 crew are now level on points at the top of the drivers’ standings heading into the final race.
Another enthusiastic crowd packed the Fuji Speedway grandstands and saw Kamui in the pole position #7 lead the field away on a hot, sunny day. Kamui established a slender gap over Sebastien in the #8 as the GR010 HYBRIDs set the tone for the race by leading the way from the beginning.
Just a few seconds separated the two during the first hour, which ended with both pitting for two new tyres and more fuel. Kamui retained the lead in the #7 but Sebastien was gradually closing the gap and moved into the lead on lap 64.
As the two-hour mark approached, Kamui handed over the second-placed #7 to Jose. A lap later, Brendon took the wheel of the #8 and resumed with a 6secs lead, with the third-placed Alpine over 50secs behind.
Brendon began to build a comfortable margin at the front and extended his advantage over Jose to 10secs at next pit stops, which came at half distance. By the time of the next driver changes, with just under two hours remaining, Brendon had a decisive 30-second lead.
Ryo, already a winner at Fuji Speedway this season in Super Formula, took the wheel of the #8 as Mike replaced Jose in the #7 for the final stretch. With a one-lap advantage over the third-placed Alpine, the GR010 HYBRIDs controlled the remainder of the race, taking no unnecessary risks.
After 232 laps without safety car or full course yellow, Ryo took the chequered flag to secure TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s third victory of the season, its 37th from 75 hybrid-powered WEC races since 2012. Mike followed 1min 8.382secs later, completing the team’s second one-two of the season.
The fight for both World Championships therefore goes to the final race of the season, when Bahrain International Circuit hosts an eight-hour title decider on 12 November.
6 Hours of Fuji – Result:
1st #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 232 laps
2nd #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1min 8.382secs
3rd #36 Alpine Elf Team (Negrao/Lapierre/Vaxiviere) +2 laps
4th #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies (Di Resta/Jensen/Vergne) +7 laps
5th #31 WRT (Galael/Frijns/Vanthoor) +7 laps
6th #38 JOTA (Gonzalez/Da Costa/Stevens) +8 laps
For more information, visit https://toyotagazooracing.com/wec/release/2022/rd05-race/.
Copyright ©2022 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network.
May 9, 2022 | Business
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing earned its first win of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season after a dramatic, weather-affected 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
World Champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, driving the #7 GR010 HYBRID, overcame a strong challenge from Hypercar competitors, as well as the notorious Ardennes weather, to win round two of the 2022 season, the final event before the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The team celebrated its sixth consecutive victory at Spa-Francorchamps with the #7 bouncing back from an accident at Sebring to make it seven wins out of eight races since the GR010 HYBRID was introduced at Spa in 2021.
Unfortunately, only one GR010 HYBRID reached the chequered flag at Spa. Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa were leading the race in their #8 car when an issue on the hybrid system forced its retirement after 90 minutes.
The race had started full of promise for the #8, with Sebastien moving up from fourth on the grid to second on the first lap. Mike was close behind in third, having briefly lost a spot when he was boxed in at the exit of the first corner.
On lap 16, the GR010 HYBRIDs hit the front, both overtaking the race-leading Glickenhaus on the same lap. Sebastien therefore led in the #8, but the race changed quickly when rain began to fall around the hour mark, followed by an LMP2 accident which caused a red flag.
After a 25-minute delay, the race resumed behind the safety car but the leading #8 stopped on the side of the track. As Sebastien stepped out of the car to retire, the rain got heavier and Mike brought the #7 into the pits for wet tyres, dropping to third.
Conditions worsened and caused further interruptions, including two more red flag periods, until the race restarted properly with just over two hours remaining, and Kamui running in second. He wasted little time in overtaking the #31 WRT for the lead as the rain stopped and track conditions started to improve.
Inside the last hour-and-a-half, Jose took the wheel of the #7, now on hybrid intermediate tyres, for the final stint. He resumed in the lead of a close battle for victory among the three Hypercar competitors until three full course yellows late in the race disrupted the fight at the front.
Jose controlled the final stages of the race as track conditions improved continuously and he crossed the line after six hours to win by 27.473secs from the #36 Alpine.
The team now makes the short journey back to Cologne to prepare for the highlight of the WEC season, the Le Mans 24 Hours on 11-12 June when it will challenge for a fifth consecutive victory.
Sebastien Buemi (Driver, car #8):
“I am obviously disappointed for our car because I think we had a very good race developing. We started fourth and made it up to first, then managed to save fuel and go a lap longer on our first stint. This is always helpful at tracks like this when you can get lots of full course yellows. But then we had an issue on the car and obviously had to stop. I am really happy for car #7. They have done a great job, and this is the first win of the year for the team so that’s fantastic. We need to understand better what happened on our car so that we can fight for the win at Le Mans next time out.”
Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8):
“Clearly it’s disappointing not to score points today. It was looking really good. Seb had a great start in the first stint, then we had the issue. That’s racing sometimes. It’s obviously better that it happens here than at Le Mans but it’s a pity and it hurts our championship chances. On the other hand, I’m very happy for the team to win for the first time this season. Car #7 drove a great race to bring home the victory for the team. Now it’s full focus for the whole team on Le Mans.”
Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8):
“Today was not our day on the #8 car, unfortunately. Like Brendon, I didn’t get to drive the car in the race. Seb had driven really well and put us in a strong position. But as a team it was a good performance and it’s great to get the first victory of the season. Congratulations to Mike, Kamui, Jose and everyone on the #7 car. Now we are fully dedicated to preparation for Le Mans. I am really looking forward to being part of the team at Le Mans for the first time, and fighting for the win at the big race.”
Race:
1st #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 103 laps
2nd #36 Alpine (Negrao/Lapierre/Vaxiviere) +27.473secs
3rd #31 WRT (Gelael/Frijns/Rast) +1min 6.185secs
4th #41 Realteam by WRT (Andrade/Habsburg/Nato) +1min 40.676secs
5th #38 JOTA (Gonzalez/Da Costa/Stevens) +1min 48.571secs
6th #5 Team Penske (Cameron/Collard/Nasr) +1min 57.610secs
DNF #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
Copyright ©2022 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network.
Mar 10, 2022 | Business
Election Commission of India had announced General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand on 8th January 2022. Along with the announcement of the elections, Commission also issued Revised Broad Guidelines to regulate various aspects of elections including victory processions during the period of COVID. During the period of elections as the COVID situation improved, Commission gradually relaxed the norms concerning electioneering in consultation with Union Health Ministry and State Governments.
Viewing the current status of COVID-19 in these poll going states, Commission has decided to relax the guidelines on victory processions during and after the counting and has withdrawn the blanket ban on victory processions. However, this relaxation will be subject to existing instructions of SDMA and preventive measures, imposed by concerned district authorities.
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