WEC Qualifying Results are in, Toyota Gazoo on Top

Hypercar

After what seemed like Ferrari dominance in the early practice sessions Toyota Gazoo added another ripple to the equation. The No. 07 Toyota Gazoo Racing steals away pole from the No. 50 Ferrari by 0.024s. The No. 51 Ferrari sister car sits in third running a tenth slower than their teammate. Antonio Giovinazzi in the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P had taken pole position with pole lap of 2m00.77s but time was deleted due to a track limits violations forcing him to settle for third. Toyota Gazoo’s Kamui Kobayashi took over pole position due to this violation. He had a spin out in the session as well but was able to save the car from any catastrophic damage. The No. 08 Toyota Gazoo GR010 did not participant in qualifying as driver Brendon Huntley crashed on the preparation lap.

LMP2

United Autosports continues their dominance from Portimao and secures pole for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. United Autosports has been in great form all weekend. The No.23 United Autosports saw the return of driver Tom Blomqvist as he set a rapid 2m05.979s best lap. Blomqvist has been absent since his Sebring retirement and missing Portimao for the Long Beach Grand Prix IMSA race. 

LMGTE-Am

Ahmad Al Harthy in ORT by TF Aston Martin claims a sensational first pole position with a scorching 2m17.216s. The Omani driver was a scorching 1.9s faster than second placed Iron Dames Porsche driven by Sarah Bovy. Ryan Hardwick completes his best qualifying of the season for the No.88 Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR-19 in third position on the LMGTE Am grid. The session was temporarily red flagged due PJ Hyett in Project 1-AO Porsche 911 RSR-19 crashing at Raidillon. Hyett appears to be uninjured.

Post Qualifying Press Conference

Full Qualifying Results are Below

Qualifying Session Facts

Hypercar

Ferarri pulls off a 1-2 in FP2 at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francochamps. The World Endurance Championship heads to Spa this weekend for 6 hours of racing. Ferrari has set the pace in practice ahead of the field. Cadillac racing is third fastest in their second European race weekend with the VSeries.R. There were some concerns with the Porsche 963 hypercars. Both cars had mechanical issues that resulted in them stopping on track mid session. The team suspects that there is a gear box issue that is effecting both cars but will need to tear into the cars to find the problem. FP3 is 8 hours away and we will report back with results. The No. 3 Cadillac Racing also stopped on circuit with a mechanical issue.

LMP2

Robin Frijns puts in the fastest lap with a 2m06.108s best to bring Team WRT to the of the table. United Autosports who won in Portimão finished second fastest in an effort that has silenced many skeptics about their winning pace from the 6 hours of Portimão. Third was rounded out by the second WRT No. 41 entry as Louis Deletraz set a best 2m06.633s. 

LMGTE-AM

No.54 AF Corse Ferrari sits ahead of the times as Davide Rigon claims a 2m15.736s lap but the session ended early after an incident at Raidillon with the No.21 and No.54 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Diego Alessi at time. Thomas Flohr was in No.54 car. Second fastest in the session was the Kessel Racing Ferrari 488GTE Evo. In third GR Racing is the leading Porsche 911 RSR-19 with driver Riccardo Pera logging in a 2m16.993. 

Full Free Practice 2 results are below.

The 6 hours of Portimão is over as Toyota Gazoo double down on their early season success and claim the win. Here is how the race unfolded.

2 Hour Mark

In Hypercar at the 2 hours mark, the No. 08 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 led the pack. The No. 07 sister Toyota car was running in second before a left rear tire change was required. This stop essentially removed the No. 07 car from victory contention at this point in the race. The Ferrari AF Corse 499Ps moved up the field into second and third. The were briefly split by the Leading Porsche 963 driven by Laurens Vanthoor but the Porsche could not maintain pace and shortly fell behind the Ferraris. The No. 94 Peugeot was in fifth place. The No. 93 Peugeot experienced a mechanical steering issue which resulted in it not start from the grid. The car fell a lap behind but the car was able to catch up to the lead lap in 10th.

The LMP2 No. 23 United Autosports car led at the 2 hour mark. Class pole sitter Vector Sport unfortunately lost out on their pole winning advantage due to a potential issue with their fly by wire throttle. This required an unplanned stop which set the team back in the field.

In LMGTE AM it was all Ferrari in the top 3 led by the Richard Mille AF Corse No. 83 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. The No. 54 and No. 38 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evos rounded out P2 and P3.

4 Hour Mark

Cadillac Racing made the jump up from P5 to P3 in their first European showing. The No. 08 Toyota retained the lead in class while the No. 51 Ferrari 499P fell to 5th after running second at the 2 hour mark. The No. 07 Toyota was 6 laps behind the lead lap. The car was closing ground to the pack but the deficit proved to be too much for the No. 07 to have any chance of catching the pack without a major on track incident.

Former F1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi had a brake issue and hybrid charging failure with his Ferrari that required repair dropping him 4 places but he was able to recover to P5 at the 4 hour mark. After starting from the pit the No. 93 car improved to 8th place ahead of the sole Glickenhaus 007 (3 laps behind the lead), Vanwall Vandervill (4 laps behind the lead) and No. 7 Toyota Gazoo which had not recovered from their early decline remaining 6 laps back from the lead lap. No. 6 Penske Porsche held P4

In LMP2 the No. 23 United Autosports car retained the lead by 9.152s to the Prema Racing No. 63 car. Hertz Team Jota was in third place. The No. 33 Corvette led the LMGTE AM class followed by the only other GTE car on the lead lap the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari.

Race Result

The No. 08 Toyota Gazoo car was the only car to finish on the lead lap in Hypercar. In P2 the No. 50 Ferrari was able to improve from its P3 start securing a podium for the Ferrari side. The No. 6 Penske Porsche which started sixth worked its way up through the field to a podium in P3. This is the first time this season where the podium was represented by three manufacturers. The No. 02 Cadillac Racing finished P4 in their hypercar European debut.

In LMP2 the No.23 United Autosports car retained the lead. Teammate car the No. 22 made a late charge from P4 and completed the race with a 1-2 finish for United Autosports. Team WRT round out P3 for LMP2. Unfortunately for Prema Racing and Vector Sport they were not able to capitalize on their qualifying positions. The No. 63 fell to P5 but maintained pace to stay on the lead lap.

In LMGTE AM the No. 33 Corvette which lead at the 4 hour mark was able to retain the lead and win the class. The No. 83 Richard Mille AF Corse which led the class at the 2 Hour mark was able to make up lost time in P4 at the 4 hour mark to secure a podium. The No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche finished in third.

Post Race Press Conference

Full race results are below

Hypercar

Toyota Gazoo Racing bounced back after FP3 to lock out a 1-2 finish in Qualifying ahead of the 6 hours of Portimão. Ferrari despite running second fastest in FP3 with the No. 51 Ferrari 499P was only able to salvage 4th behind sister No. 50 car who finished just under 4 tenths ahead. Porsche Penske improved again on the weekend finishing fifth fastest logging at 1m32.404s lap time.

LMP2

Vector Sport finished second fastest after finishing fastest in FP2 and FP3. Prema Racing was able to steal away top position by a margin of 0.001s. Both cars logged 7 laps in the session and the pole claiming lap occurred on lap 6 for Prema.

LMGTE AM

In commanding fashion the No.33 car from Corvette Racing claimed the fastest lap setting a 1m41.362s on lap 8 of 9. The Corvette was 2 tenths quicker than the second place qualifying finisher Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR.

Full qualifying results are below

Hypercar

FP3 completed earlier this morning in Portimão for round 2 of the World Endurance Championship. After dominating in practice sessions 1 and 2 Toyota Gazoo still remains at the top of the table with the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid running a 1m31.795s lap time. The No. 51 Ferrari 499P found additional pace leading into qualifying finishing second fastest; splitting the Toyotas. Ferrari secured pole position at the 1000 Miles of Sebring in round one. The team will look to repeat this result later today in qualifying.

Cadillac Racing appears to have worked out the kinks in their debut on European soil. The No. 2 Cadillac finish fifth fastest setting a 1m32.818s improving on practice lap times yesterday. The No. 93 Peugeot 9X8 also saw improvement running 4th fastest. Peugeot are in search of their first podium on the season.

LMP2

Vector Sport had early success in practice which was generally unexpected. However, the team has put all doubt to rest as they ran fastest in class again in FP3. The team shaved 0.4s off of their FP2 fastest lap and will look to continue improving lap times into qualifying.

LMGTE AM

It was all Ferrari in the LMGTE AM class. The No. 54 AF Corse and No. 83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evos completed a 1-2 finish in FP3. The Iron Dames and Iron Lynx ran 3rd and 4th respectively.

You can find the full FP3 results below.

The World Endurance Championship 6 hours of Portimão weekend kicked off today with FP2. Toyota Gazoo Racing continued its Hypercar dominance from the 1000 Miles of Sebring running 1-2 in free practice two. Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Kamui Kobayashi posted a 1m32.155s with teammate Ryo Hirakawa rounding out the Toyota1-2 as he clocked in a 1m33.114s best lap. Ferrari who seemingly felt they had more pace coming into the weekend fell short in FP1 and FP2 having to settle for 3rd and 4th fastest.

The struggles continued for Porsche Penske after not being able to break into the top 5 in practice. The Porsches finished 6th and 10th will leave the team wondering what changes they will need to make for the qualifying to find more pace. Porsche will be looking to bounce back from their 5th and 6th place finish in Sebring.

Cadillac Racing unleashed the V-Series.R for the first time on European soil. The quickest lap set by Richard Westbrook clocking a 1m34.309s. The team will be using these practice sessions to gather as much data as possible prior to qualifying. Unfortunately some of their competitors have the advantage of racing here in previous years.

The No.94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 showed improvement after a disappointing race in Sebring. The No. 93 sister car finished 7th fastest.
Full practice results can be found here at FIA WEC FP2 Practice Results

LMP2 and LMGTE AM

Vector Sport ran a shocking fastest in the LMP2 class logging a 1m34.609s. The team will be hopeful to improve on this time heading into qualifying. In LMGTE AM Daniel Serra sets the pace with the Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. You can check out the pre race press conference below.

The World Endurance Champion (WEC) heads to Portimão, Portugal for round 2 of the championship at Algarve International Circuit this week. The race will be a 6 hour endurance race that marks the return of Portugal to the WEC event calendar. Algarve International Circuit is a 2.891 mile circuit that features 15 turns and a variety of elevation changes throughout. Hypercars travel almost 50% of the track at full throttle reaching speeds of 193+mph. The circuit hosts many racing series year over year, and it is used as a testing facility for the majority of the WEC drivers. Cadillac Racing, Ferrari AF Corse, Porsche Penske Motorsport and Floyd Vanwall Racing Team will all be making their European Hypercar debut in Portimão.

After securing a 1-2 finish at the 1000 miles of Sebring, Toyota Gazoo will be looking to capitalize on their early lead in the championship standings. One camp that will be looking to change this outcome is Ferrari. The Ferraris looked keen on winning in Sebring. However, after some on track traffic issues, poorly timed yellow flags and malfunctions with the cars; they were not able to capitalize on their pole position start.

The Cadillac V-Series.R will make its debut on European soil. After a strong performance at Sebring the Cadillacs will test their grit in what should be a very competitive field. Toyota leads Ferrari with Cadillac rounding out the top three with 18 points. There is plenty of room for movement in the championship standings. Tensions will be high in an effort to solidify dominance in WEC round two.

Where can you watch?

37 cars have entered the race. Free practice is set to kick off at 12:00pm local time on April14 2023. Coverage for the race can be found at FIA World Endurance Championship TV.

You can find the full entry list here which include Hypercars, LMP2 and LM-GTE Am classes.

The FIA World Endurance Championship visited Sebring International Raceway for its season opening race. In case you missed it WEC has posted the entire race for free to the public for you to view. You can watch the race here:

You can read more about our coverage of the race here: Speed Trap Magazine IMSA/WEC Part 1

Super Sebring weekend at Sebring International Raceway is an iconic event that motorsports fans from around the world flock to see. Sebring International Raceway has hosted the legendary IMSA 12 hours of Sebring for 70 years. Some of the most iconic cars and drivers have forged their legacy here. This past weekend the 71^st Annual Mobil 1 12 hours of Sebring coincided with the FIA WEC 1000 miles of Sebring event for Super Sebring Weekend. Here is the Speed Trap Recap for Super Sebring Weekend 2023 – WEC). Check out Part 2 here for our review of the 12 Hours of Sebring.

WEC

Hypercar

WEC kicked off its season with the 1000 miles of Sebring. Three classes fielded the grid LM GTE AM, LMP2 and the heavily anticipated Hypercar class. The week started off great for the Ferrari AF Corse 499P debut. Antonio Fuoco secured pole clocking a 1m.45.067s to claim pole position from rivals Toyota Gazoo Racing by 0.214s. Ferrari celebrated their first point and maiden pole position for the 2023 season after returning to global endurance racing for the first time in 50 years.

However, these celebrations didn’t last long. After 8 hours and 1000 miles of racing Toyota Gazoo Racing were able to overtake Ferrari for a stunning 1-2 finish in Sebring. Kamui Kobayashi drove the No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar that he shared with Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez to the checkered flag 2.168s ahead of the sister No. 8 car which was driven by Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. The No. 7’s victory in Sebring marks Toyota Gazoo’s 40th win in the WEC; continuing their dominance after winning the championship in 2022.

Akio Toyoda (Team Founder, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing):

“A new season has started with new rivals. I would like to say “congratulations” and “thank you” to all the drivers and team members who finished this important first round with a one-two finish. I am particularly happy that car #7 won the race and got off to a good start after they had so many frustrations last season. But that is not the only reason.”

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7):
“It is a fantastic feeling to win this race and I would like to thank everyone for their big support, particularly everyone back in Japan, including Toyoda-San and President Sato-San. The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing family has worked really hard to be ready for this season. We had a tough time yesterday, but we came back strongly and in the race we showed our philosophy to be one team, with everyone working very hard together. A one-two was the best result we could hope for, but this is just the start of a big fight this season. We deserved to win but we do not under-estimate the other manufacturers; today our experience helped us but we will face a big challenge this season, so we have to get stronger and fight even harder. This championship is getting really exciting, and I am happy to be part of it.”

LMP2

After finishing fifth in qualifying the No. 48 Hertz Team Jota Oreco-Gibson found the pace over 8 hours to secure their first win of the season with drivers William Stevens, Yifei Ye and David Beckmann. LMP2 finished with 7 cars on the lead lap which is impressive feature in endurance racing. Stevens who finished the race extended the No.48 car’s lead to a 2.8s margin as he crossed the finish line. The victory marks Stevens second win at the 1000 miles of Sebring.

LM GTE AM

Cheers to the home team! The No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R claimed first place in the LM GTE AM class with drivers Nicolas Varrone, Ben Keating and Nicky Catsburg. The No. 33 lead for most of the final half of the race never really seeing a threat to that lead. The team finished 2 laps ahead of second place finisher No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR 19 driven by Julien Andlauer, Christian Ried and Mikkel Pedersen. The battle for second place was closer with second and third place being decided by just under a 14.6s gap to third place finishers Kessel Racing No. 57 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.

It was a heart breaker for the Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR 19 when driver Rahel Frey ran wide coming out of turn 2 and lost the rear bumper of the car and resulted in the car dropping to 8th place after leading the race for some time. The Iron Dames qualified P1 with driver Sarah Bovy in the LM GTE AM class and were well on the fastest pace throughout the race prior to the Turn 2 incident.

Pre-testing for the 1000 miles of Sebring is underway in Florida. In its 11^th season the World Endurance Championship (WEC) heads to Sebring International Raceway this weekend for The Prologue pre season test. The race will showcase nine different car manufacturers. The WEC entry list can be found here. The IMSA entry can be found here.

In addition, IMSA will also be hosting the 12 hours of Sebring next week. The full event week schedule is below.

2023 Super Sebring Event Schedule

Wednesday, March 15

8:55-9:25 a.m. — Practice No. 1 – Porsche Carrera Cup
9:40-10:40 a.m. — Practice No. 1 – Michelin Pilot Challenge
10:55-11:55 a.m. — Free Practice No. 1 – FIA WEC
12:10-12:50 p.m. — Practice No. 2 – Porsche Carrera Cup
1:05-2:05 p.m. — Practice No. 2 – Michelin Pilot Challenge
3:05-3:35 p.m. — Qualifying – Porsche Carrera Cup
3:50-4:05 p.m. — Qualifying – Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR
4:10-4:25 p.m. — Qualifying – Michelin Pilot Challenge GS
4:35-5:35 p.m. — Free Practice No. 2 – FIA WEC

Thursday, March 16

9:15-9:55 a.m. — Race No. 1 – Porsche Carrera Cup
10:10-11:40 a.m. — Practice No. 1 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
11-11:30 a.m. — Autograph Session – Michelin Pilot Challenge – Michelin Village on the Midway
11:55 Am-12:55 p.m. — Free Practice No. 3 – FIA WEC
1:20-3:20 p.m. — Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
3:25-3:45 p.m. — Corvette Car Corral Parade Laps – First 100 Cars
3:50-5:05 p.m. — Practice No. 2 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTD/LMP2/LMP3)
4:05-5:20 p.m. — Practice No. 2 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTP/GTD Pro)
5:35-6:15 p.m. — Race No. 2 – Porsche Carrera Cup
6:30-6:45 p.m. — Qualifying – FIA WEC (GTE Am)
6:55-7:10 p.m. — Qualifying – FIA WEC (LMP2)
7:20-7:35 p.m. — Qualifying – FIA WEC (Hypercar)
7:45-9:15 p.m. — Practice No. 3 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Friday, March 17
8:55-9:05 a.m. — Practice No. 4 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
9:15-9:30 a.m. — Qualifying – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTD/GTD Pro)

9:30-10 a.m. — Autograph Session – FIA WEC – FIA WEC Paddock
9:40-9:55 a.m. — Qualifying – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (LMP2/LMP3)
10:05-10:25 a.m. — Qualifying – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTP)
10:30-10:55 a.m. — Lexus Car Corral Parade Laps
10:45-11:45 a.m. — Autograph Session – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – IMSA Paddock
11:10-11:30 a.m. — Grid Walk Opening – FIA WEC VIP By Invitation Only
12-8 p.m. — 1000 Miles of Sebring (or 8 Hours) for the FIA World Endurance Championship Saturday,

March 18
8-8:20 a.m. — Warm Up – WeatherTech SporsCar Championship
8:25-8:45 a.m. — Porscheplatz Car Corral Parade Laps – First 100 Cars
9-9:50 a.m. — Grid Walk and Driver Introductions – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
10:10 a.m.-10:10 p.m. — 71st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship