The 2025-specification GR010 HYBRIDs – featuring a unique combination of liveries to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Toyota’s Le Mans debut – completed a trouble-free day as the team and drivers finetuned the cars in preparation to fight at the front of a 21-strong Hypercar grid, representing eight manufacturers.
The #8 GR010 of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa ended the day fastest thanks to a lap of 3mins 26.246secs. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries were 14th in their #7 GR010 HYBRID, giving a track debut to its new livery which pays tribute to the 1998 GT-One (TS020).
On-site preparations have been underway for several days, since the first team members arrived in Le Mans directly from a shakedown test at Spa-Francorchamps to begin the task of installing working facilities and systems. Saturday saw the first official appointments, when both GR010 HYBRIDs completed scrutineering in the city and Kamui drove the #7 through the streets during a spectacular parade.
Saturday’s showers gave way to sun on Sunday, although temperatures were only around 15°C when the test began at 10am. Today’s two three-hour sessions are the only opportunity to test at the Circuit de la Sarthe prior to race week, so the team wasted no time in kicking off a comprehensive programme.
The 13.626km circuit consists partly of public roads so track conditions evolve – and lap times fall – as the cars sweep the surface clean and add a layer of tyre rubber. The opening session was interrupted by a 40-minute safety car in the first hour, but the team nevertheless made a productive start. The task list included stints on soft and medium Michelin tyres, and set-up comparisons, including in-session changes of suspension components and settings.
The second session began in temperatures of 20°C and lap times throughout the grid were immediately quicker than earlier in the day. However, a disrupted session featured three red flags, the last of which ended the action a few minutes earlier than scheduled. The team used the limited available time to conduct more mechanical set-up changes and tyre evaluations, with the only drama coming when Sébastien suffered a puncture, although he drove well to bring the back to the pits slowly without causing damage.
With no track action scheduled on Monday and Tuesday, the team nevertheless has a busy schedule. Both cars will be rebuilt by the mechanics ready for Wednesday’s two practice sessions, which take place either side of qualifying. Meanwhile, engineers and drivers will analyse test data and work on adjustments to optimise handling, balance and tyre usage.
Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “It’s nice to be back on this circuit. Our cars are built for Le Mans, so it feels different compared to other tracks. Le Mans is the big highlight of the season, and I always enjoy driving here, no matter what the lap times are. The two test sessions pretty much went smoothly. We’re building up for the race and making progress. We still need to do some work and find improvements, but that’s normal at this stage. So far, it’s going okay and we’re enjoying it.”
Mike Conway (Driver, car #7): “It’s great to be back on track again at Le Mans, particularly because I didn’t get to drive here last year. It’s fast, fun and it brings back some good memories. I’ve been getting used to the rhythm of the place again and it’s been a positive start. We spent the day trying quite a few things, and we still have some areas to work on. The car felt decent by the end of the test, not 100% how we want it yet, but we will keep pushing.”
Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7): “It was a pretty tough day because we had to work hard to move in the right direction in terms of car balance. We need to analyse everything we did and see what we can learn to improve the car for next week. It was a pity the red flags cost quite a bit of time at the end of the second session because that meant we couldn’t go through our full programme, but it’s the same for everyone. We know where we need to improve and we’ll work flat-out to be strong for the race.”
Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “I always enjoy coming back to this circuit; it’s a real pleasure to drive a Hypercar around here. And of course, it’s nice to set the fastest lap obviously – but there are a lot of fast cars out there. We did a lot of laps, made some changes which were good, others which were less so, but that’s part of the process. We will analyse everything and see where we can improve. Plus, the weather conditions might be a bit different next week, so we need to get ready to adapt to that as well.”
Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “It was very nice to be back in the GR010 HYBRID at Le Mans. I think we are feeling positive after a successful day with no major dramas. I had a good feeling with the car, and I think Ryo and Seb did too. Clearly the competition is fierce, and on long runs I wouldn’t say we look like the quickest car, but I feel like we are in the fight. We have some work to do next week. Hopefully get some good sleep in the next nights, recharge and be ready for the big job to come.”
Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “So far so good, I’m happy. It was quite a busy day, as expected, with a lot of things to test and all the different slow zones, full course yellows and red flags. We got what we wanted out of the day, so it has gone well. It’s always nice to be fastest, even though it doesn’t mean anything at this stage. The car felt really good but still we have a lot of things we can improve so there should be more to come. We have to analyse the data over the next two days and prepare the best we can for race week.”
Le Mans 24 Hours – Free Practice 1 Test Day
1st #83 AF Corse (Kubica/Ye/Hanson) 3mins 27.010secs 34 laps
2nd #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.990secs 39 laps
3rd #38 Cadillac Team JOTA (Bamber/Bourdais/Button/Stevens/Lynn) +1.481secs 35 laps
4th #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi) +1.833secs 36 laps
5th #311 Cadillac Whelan (Aitken/Drugovich/Vesti/Bamber) +1.913secs 38 laps
6th #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Vanthoor/Wehrlein/Müller) +1.992secs 35 laps
9th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +2.267secs 38 laps
Le Mans 24 Hours – Free Practice 2 Test Day
1st #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 3mins 26.246secs 32 laps
2nd #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi) +0.531secs 30 laps
3rd #83 AF Corse (Kubica/Ye/Hanson) +0.656secs 36 laps
4th #36 Alpine Endurance Team (Schumacher/Makowiecki/Gounon) +1.067secs 33 laps
5th #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Vanthoor/Wehrlein/Müller) +1.110secs 32 laps
6th #4 Porsche Penske (Nasr/Tandy/Wehrlein/Müller) +1.243secs 32 laps
14th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +2.139secs 32 laps
*Official results on http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/
