Mike Conway and his Toyota Racing teammates finished in the top ten at their home round of the World Endurace Championship.
It does however mean they have lost ground in the title race, thanks to a penalty in Fuji last weekend.
With just an hour remaining, the TR010 HYBRIDs were out of podium contention after experiencing different setbacks against strong Hypercar competition. But, in front of a 72,326-strong weekend crowd, a bold strategy turned the race on its head, and determined driving earned a tense win.
Le Mans winners Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries recovered from their own setbacks to finish eighth and stay in the title battle, in second, 10 points behind their team-mates.
After poor weather caused qualifying to be cancelled, the TR010 HYBRIDs had ground to make up to challenge at the front. The #8 started from eighth with the #7 in 13th when the race began on a damp track. Sébastien quickly made up two positions while Nyck’s race was disrupted by a puncture inside the first half-hour. A promising fightback was then interrupted by a spin due to contact with the #35 Alpine early in the second hour.
The TR010 HYBRIDs battled their way into top six contention during the opening three hours, but the second half started with frustration. Early in the fifth hour, Brendon was pushed into a spin by the #007 Aston Martin at turn one. At the next pit stops soon after, Ryō took the wheel in sixth. Kamui was seventh until a drive-through penalty for speeding under a full course yellow dropped the #7 to 12th.
However, a safety car with 55 minutes to go enabled a bold strategic call from the #8 crew. Engineers correctly anticipated a longer interruption due to barrier repairs, so the #8 was refuelled accordingly, and did not change tyres. Ryō therefore led the race when it resumed with 20 minutes remaining. As the rain fell and under intense pressure, he held off the #36 Alpine and crossed the line 0.591secs ahead. Kamui made up two positions in the final minutes to finish eighth.
The World Championship battle now returns to Europe for the penultimate round of the season, the inaugural 6 Hours of Barcelona on 18 October at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Speaking after the weekend, Conway said: “A great result in the end for car #8. They deserved that one after a great call on the last stop to jump everyone in the pits. So well done to them. As a team we scored good points today and won in front of our home fans, which always feels great.
“On our car, the penalty took us out of contention. Unfortunately, that means we lost some ground in the drivers’ championship but there are still two races to go, and we’ll do our best to get back on top.”