Toyota WEC team like ‘home’ for Spa race
The team heads to Belgium in high spirits, and in the lead of the World Championship, after starting the season with victory and its first-ever one-two finish at the Six Hours of Silverstone on 20 April.
That marked a highly-successful debut for the new TS040 HYBRID, which at 1,000PS delivers more power than its predecessor whilst simultaneously using 25% less fuel thanks to its hybrid system, advanced aerodynamics and other efficiencies.
Spa-Francorchamps is just 120km away from the team’s base at TOYOTA Motorsport GmbH (TMG) in Cologne, Germany and is considered one of two home races on the 2014 calendar, alongside Fuji Speedway.
All TMG employees have been given the chance to attend the race and will be cheering on the two Le Mans-specification TS040 HYBRID cars as they look to build on a perfect weekend last time out at Silverstone.
Once again, the #7 TS040 HYBRID will be piloted by Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Kazuki Nakajima, with Silverstone race winners Anthony Davidson, Nicolas Lapierre and Sébastien Buemi driving the #8.
A two-day weekend format ensures a packed schedule for the team, with a pair of two-hour practice sessions (09.00 & 14.15) preceding Friday’s qualifying session (20.00). With the race starting at 14.30 on Saturday, the closing stages will take place in darkness.