11 seconds; although that gap could be considered as very small window especially in endurance racing, such small opening was more than enough for Toyota to take the checkered flag ahead of the pursuing Audi R18 e-tron Quattro in the seventh round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the Fuji Speedway last Sunday, October 14th.
With Fuji Speedway veteran Kazuki Nakajima clocking a 1:27.499 during the qualifying run, Toyota had once again managed to secure the pole position in a race since Sao Paulo, giving them another ray of hope in crossing the checkered flag first. But with Audi’s machine breathing down their necks, it was not going to be an easy run.
Kazuki sprung back into action after team mate Nicholas Lapierre’s stint ended at the middle point of the race, just at the end of lap 125. He then defended Toyota’s position and stayed in the car for a lengthy three stints, securing another victory for the TS030 Hybrid.
“We all achieved this together. To win a world championship race as a driver has been my aim for my whole career so it is a great day. The crowd was fantastic; it was great to see so many TOYOTA flags in the grandstands. I was so excited in the last few laps. I was getting the message from my engineer to push hard because I had to make a gap for our last pit stop, so it was quite challenging. I was pushing like crazy and finally we just made it”, said Kazuki at the end of the race.
Their next stop is the Shanghai International Circuit, where the eighth and final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship will be taking place on October 28th. Kazuki unfortunately will have to miss this race as his commitment will be focused on the Super GT’s Motegi GT 250km Race taking place at the same date.
