Demonstrating its commitment to offering new opportunities to talented drivers, Ben Barnicoat and Sacha Fenestraz were selected to drive the #7 GR010 HYBRID, which won the 8 Hours of Bahrain on Saturday evening.

Ben, an IMSA champion with the Lexus RC F GT3, who made his GR010 HYBRID debut in the 2023 WEC Rookie Test, was at the wheel again. Sacha, a race winner with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in Super Formula and Super GT in Japan, was driving a Hypercar for the first time. The pair prepared for the day with driving simulator sessions at the team’s base in Cologne, Germany. 

Sacha was first behind the wheel when the lights went green for a two-hour session at 10am local time. A 25-minute red flag interrupted his stint, but he was back on track when testing resumed, completing 15 laps. Ben took over with 40 minutes of the session remaining and recorded 22 laps.

Both drivers began the three-hour afternoon session with shorter stints followed by a long run each to conclude the day. Ben completed 42 laps in the afternoon, with Sacha recording 39.

Ben Barnicoat: “It is a super special day for me. The smile on my face is as big as the first time I drove the GR010 HYBRID. As a professional driver you always want to push yourself, drive the best cars, with the best teams, at the highest level. Today was another opportunity to do that. I felt like I progressed throughout the day, so I am really happy with it. Huge thanks to TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, the engineers and the mechanics for making this possible. These are the moments in your career that you never forget.”

Sacha Fenestraz: “It has been a very positive day. It’s really nice to drive such a car and I enjoyed it a lot. This was my first time driving on this track and to experience it in such an amazing car was special. I had to learn a new driving style and new techniques, as well as the circuit, over long and short stints. I would like to thank TOYOTA GAZOO Racing for this amazing opportunity.”