Mike Conway and his Toyota Racing team will start the 94th Le Mans 24 Hours from outside the top 10 after a frustrating Hyperpole at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
The #7 TR010 HYBRID of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries will line up 14th on the grid when the race begins at 4pm CEST on Saturday, which is a place ahead of the second Toyota of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa, in 15th.
Kamui Kobayashi and Ryō Hirakawa took the wheel of their respective cars for Hyperpole 1, aiming to be among the fastest 10 to progress. Their first flying laps initially put them in the top 10, and after a stop for new soft Michelin tyres, both looked set to improve. However, Kamui’s last attempt was cancelled after he was judged to have exceeded track limits, while Ryō was delayed in traffic. The TR010 HYBRIDs therefore fell down the order and missed out on Hyperpole 2.
Earlier in the afternoon, Thursday’s first session, third practice, offered another chance to adjust race set-ups of the TR010 HYBRIDs and compare Michelin tyre compounds. After a brief, late red flag, the three hours finished with the #8 car in 12th place thanks to Ryō’s lap. The #7 car was one place behind following Kamui’s best lap.
After sunset, fourth practice brought the curtain down on the on-track action before the race weekend. The relatively short one-hour session ran without major incident and Mike’s lap in the #7 car earned third place, with the #8 in 11th courtesy of Brendon’s best lap.
Earlier in the day, the Circuit de la Sarthe witnessed a significant milestone when the liquid hydrogen fuelled TR LH2 Racing Prototype completed its first public demonstration, bringing the sights and sounds of a hydrogen engine to fans around the track.
Although there are no track sessions, Friday is nevertheless an intense time for the team. Engineers will finalise a strategy to gain positions in the race, while mechanics will rebuild and prepare the TR010 HYBRIDs. Meanwhile, the drivers will meet their fans during the afternoon drivers’ parade in the city centre, which they will complete onboard hydrogen fuel cell Hilux prototype vehicles.
Speaking after Hyperpole, Conway, said: “That’s our on-track preparation done. We need to study the data from today, because the schedule was pretty tight so there wasn’t much time to analyse everything.
“That’s our plan for Friday, when we’ll try to figure some things out and get ourselves set for the race.”