Arriving at Scrutineering

TOYOTA Racing has returned to La Sarthe for the 90th anniversary running of the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours later this weekend. Our team returns after making its debut last year with the same driver line-up and two 2013-spec cars. Read more after the break.

For the first time, both crews will be running the new 2013-spec TOYOTA Racing TS030 HYBRID. The #7 will be piloted by Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima while the #8 car has Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin at the wheel.

After seven test sessions, including the official Le Mans Test two weekends ago, the updated TS030 HYBRID has shown that it is a clear step forward in terms of reliability and performance. Some of the tests included several successful endurance tests, exceeding 30 hours, testing both the machine and the team to the limits.

TOYOTA HYBRID System - Racing

Sitting at the heart of the TS030 HYBRID is the TOYOTA HYBRID System – Racing (THS-R) powertrain which recuperates energy under braking at the seven designated energy recovery zones at La Sarthe, before automatically delivering the 300hp boost.

Later this week, we will publish a new video explaining how THS-R really works. Keep checking back for the latest from La Sarthe!

Scrutineering

As per tradition, both our cars were loaded on trucks and taken to the city centre for the pre-Le Mans technical inspection. The event brings the cars to the people at the prominent Place de la République.

TOYOTA Racing team truck

The sun was shining on Sunday as we disembarked our TMG Toyota Hiace and the crowds lined the streets and square, eagerly anticipating the arrival of drivers and their awesome machines.

Although the procedure was delayed slightly, both of our cars and five of our six drivers all passed their inspections. Kazuki Nakajima was just finishing his Super GT race and on his way to Le Mans so he was only scheduled for scrutineering on Monday.

We’ll start our live blog starting Wednesday when Free Practice and the first Qualifying session take place. On Thursday, there will be a further two qualifying sessions before the drivers take to the town of Le Mans on the traditional Drivers’ Parade on Friday. On Saturday, after a morning Warm Up, the race procession will begin with the race-start flag falling at 15:00 CET.

Drivers signing autographs

You can follow TOYOTA Racing’s live Le Mans week coverage on Twitter (@Toyota_Hybrid), team website (http://www.toyotahybridracing.com) and watch all the latest videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMJ_oV58WE4FI9fqlQl5f1miLU0nHDJ7t), including our Driver Diary series. You can watch Alex talking about Scrutineering below.

TOYOTA Racing Team Photo

V3 Class winner

Toyota and Lexus arrived at the Green Hell in force over the 24 hour race weekend with 10 race cars to tackle the 25km circuit. Toyota Swiss Racing secured the team’s second class victory in two years at this year’s rain-affected race. Click through to read more.

- Toyota Swiss Racing
- GAZOO Racing
- Final Results
- Gallery

Toyota Swiss Racing

Toyota GT86 racers made up the majority of the V3 class, including three from Toyota Swiss Racing and four as part of the GT86 customer racing programme operated by Toyota Motorsport GmbH.

The #212 Toyota Swiss Racing GT86 led the V3 class early on until it was crashed into by another competitor who lost control, damaging the car’s right side door and body panels. Quick repair work by the team meant the car was able to regain the lead which it kept for the majority of the race.

#212 led V3 until closing stages

Unfortunately, the #212 suffering from its unforced accident early on lost the lead to complete further repair work at the closing stages of the race, finishing valiantly in sixth position.

Toyota Swiss Racing Team Leader, Hannes Gautschi, commented: “We achieved an excellent result and I’m proud of the whole team. I would like to thank both our team and the team of Ring Racing working with us for a job well done.”

Heavy rains and dense fog overnight put a damper on the race weekend, forcing race control to red flag the event. When conditions proved safe to return to racing at 08:00 CET on Monday morning, some 9.5 hours had passed.

Champagne for class winners!

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GAZOO Racing

GAZOO Racing crossing finish line

Toyota’s grassroots motorsport programme, GAZOO Racing, achieved two second place podium positions with the team’s race-prepared Toyota GT86 and Lexus LFA.

GAZOO Racing Lexus LFA #79 battled for the lead in SP8 class throughout the shortened race period to pick up a second place podium position.

The #135 GAZOO Racing Toyota GT86 was retired after the second qualifying session after suffering an accident at the back section of the 25-kilometre circuit.

Undeterred, the Japanese outfit’s #136 GT86 went on to claim a second place podium position, finishing on the same lap as the leader of the SP3 class.

GAZOO Racing Lexus LFA 2nd in SP8

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Final Results

#212 Toyota Swiss Racing GT86
Frédéric Yerly, Roland Schmid, Benjamin Leuenberger, Olivier Burri
6th in V3, 65 laps (+3 laps in class)
24:01:58.513 (Fastest: 10:36.703)

#213 Toyota Swiss Racing GT86
Lorenz Frey, Peter Wyss, Andreas Lanz, Toni Büeler
5th in V3, 67 laps (+1 lap in class)
24:00:24.841 (Fastest: 10:54.330)

#214 Toyota Swiss Racing GT86
Mark Benz, Christoph Wüest, Werner Schmid, Roger Vögeli
1st in V3, 68 laps
23:57:52.809 (Fastest: 10:46.203)

#79 GAZOO Racing Lexus LFA
Masahiko Kageyama, Hiroaki Ishiura, Kazuya Oshima, “Morizo”
2nd in SP8, 79 laps (+2 laps in class)
24:07:58.584 (Fastest: 9:01.719)

#135 GAZOO Racing Toyota GT86
Akira Iida, Takuto Iguchi, Naoya Gamo
Did not start

#136 GAZOO Racing Toyota GT86
Takayuki Kinoshita, Kumi Sato, Hisashi Yabuki, Yasuo Hirata
2nd in SP3, 73 laps
24:01:57.119 (Fastest: 10:25.986)

Toyota Swiss Racing group photo

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Gallery

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TS030 HYBRID at Eau Rouge

As Round 2 of the FIA World Endurance Championship, 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, is taking place on a condensed two-day race weekend, we will continue to keep this post updated as the weekend progresses. Read more after the break.

- Free Practice Report
- Qualifying Report
- Friday Gallery
- Warm Up Report
- Race Report
- Saturday Gallery

Free Practice – Friday, May 3

Updated: 18:00 CET

Wet conditions

We arrived at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps this morning to find a wet track nestled in mist-covered Ardennes. Free Practice kicked off bright and early at 09:00 CET with air temperature around 11°C and track temperature just under 13°C. Audi were the first to set fast times in wet conditions.

We headed out early on to better understand track conditions to decide tyre choice for somewhat variable conditions on the 7.004km circuit. As the track dried out, Nicolas Lapierre (car #7) and Sébastien Buemi (car #8) both came in for intermediate tyres. The two drivers started to trade fastest laps, being the first to head below the 2min20sec mark.

When the chequered flag fell to end the first session of the weekend, we were P4 with car #7 (2:02.856, +0.884sec) and P6 with car #8 (2:03.146, +1.1sec).

Drivers keeping watch

The afternoon saw the sun come through pleasantly. Free Practice 2 started with dry track conditions with air temperature over 17°C and track temperature hovering around the 27°C mark. Alex Wurz in car #7 was the first to throw down the gauntlet, setting a time of 2:04.463 on the second lap. For the first quarter of the session, the battle to lead the time sheets was between Alex and the Audi drivers.

The remainder of the session saw both our cars run extended stints in preparation for the weekend ahead. By the end of the two-hour session, we were in P5 with car #7 (2:02.332, +1.0sec) and P6 with car #8 (2:02.332, +1.2sec).

Next up: Qualifying which starts at 19:30 for LMP1 and LMP2 cars. The session lasts 30 minutes (10 minutes longer than Silverstone due to the length of the track). Check back later tonight for the result and report.

In the meantime, Anthony Davidson shared his thoughts earlier this morning. Watch it below.

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Qualifying – Friday, May 3

Updated: 21:00 CET

TS030 HYBRID up Raidillon

Since the FIA WEC season-opening race at Silverstone last month, we’ve been introduced to a new qualifying format. Two drivers from each car must set at least two timed laps. The average of the four fastest laps (two from each driver) is then averaged to determine the final starting grid. In Silverstone, unfortunately, we experienced a rather lengthy niggle for the new format when the timing computers suffered a technical glitch.

It was an hour after Qualifying before the times were confirmed. No such glitch at Spa, luckily!

Contrary to the weather report on my phone, rain stayed away from Spa as the sun began to set over the track. Alex Wurz in car #7 and Stéphane Sarrazin in car #8 were up first.

Nico watching on

After the out lap and just one timed lap for most of the field, the dreaded red flag flew caused by one of the competitors further down the field. For Spa, the FIA WEC organisers extended the time allotted for Qualifying to 30 minutes due to the extensive length of the track. The red flag not only disrupted the rhythm of the session, we also lost precious time to tackle the 7.004km circuit.

Our #7 car, running the revised 2013-spec for the first time, took on Spa in Le Mans low-downforce package. We kept the 2012 high-downforce package for the #8 car which went on to pick up a podium finish at Silverstone last month.

Unfortunately, neither of these packages matched the specific nature of Spa. We ended Qualifying in a disappointing P4 (car #7) and P5 (car #8). Car #7’s average time was 2:00.947 (+0.9sec) and #8 was 2:01.203 (+1.2sec).

Nevertheless, we aim to achieve solid results in tomorrow’s six-hour race. The, normally, unpredictable weather at Spa can also throw an unexpected result.

Thanks for the messages and contact from everyone who’s been following us online. Our live coverage from Spa continues on Twitter (@Toyota_Hybrid) tomorrow.

Alex chatted to us straight after Qualifying. Here’s what he said:

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Friday Gallery

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Race Day – Saturday, May 4

Updated: 10:00 CET

Alex and Kazuki

We’ve just had morning Warm Up, reinstated at Spa-Francorchamps due to the short two-day race weekend. Having a 20-minute Warm Up session in the morning ahead of the race allows teams to fine-tune their set up for the long race starting later this afternoon at 14:30 CET.

Our two cars went out early on at the front of the queue in the pit lane. Both set lap times of around 2min 03sec before car #7 with Nicolas Lapierre at the wheel returned briefly to the pits for tyres. The session ended with car #7 in P5 with 2:02.275 while Sébastien Buemi in the #8 car moved up to P3 with 2:02.050 in the closing minutes of Warm Up.

We’ll bring you a short half race update later this afternoon, so keep checking back!

In the meantime, discover the differences between our 2012 high-downforce TS030 HYBRID and the updated 2013-spec #7 car we’re running this weekend.

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Race Update – Saturday, May the 4th (be with you)

Updated: 23:00 CET

Eventful Spa

We leave the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with mixed feelings after missing out on the podium. Our #8 drivers Anthony Davidson, Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi in the 2012-spec TS030 HYBRID drove a solid race to finish fourth.

Unfortunately, our #7 car of Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima was forced to retire after half distance when the TOYOTA HYBRID System – Racing stopped recovering energy. As the car is designed to combine regenerative braking with traditional hydraulic braking, both essential for normal operations, the #7 car suffered overheating rear brakes, forcing us to retire.

In formation

Nevertheless, the #7 car showed a really strong race pace from the start with Nicolas shooting up to P2 after the first corner. During the first half of the race, we were all treated to some enthralling wheel-to-wheel action on track between Nicolas in the #7 car and the Audis.

The #8 kept up the challenge for a podium and Sébastien took on the fight for the final stints. Late contact with a lapped car caused damage which hindered his performance for the final stretch. Even so, he brought the car back home to the chequered flag for the 2012-spec TS030 HYBRID’s final race.

The next round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship is the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month on June 22-23.

Iconic shot from La Source

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Saturday Gallery

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2013-spec TS030 HYBRID

TOYOTA Racing is coming home! Both for Toyota Europe (based in Brussels) and Toyota Motorsport GmbH (based just 120 km away from Spa in Cologne). It feels like no time has passed since the season opening Silverstone race just two weeks ago and we’re already onto the second race of the season. More after the break.

We have two new additions for our outing at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit. We’ll be putting the 2013-spec TS030 HYBRID to the test in racing conditions for the first time in the Ardennes. Kazuki Nakajima, just back from a successful campaign defending his Super Formula (formerly Formula Nippon) title with a win at Fuji last weekend, will race with the team for the first time this year on the 7.004 km circuit.

New car for Alex, Nico and Kazuki

Kazuki will join team mates Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre in the #7 car, an updated 2013-spec TS030 HYBRID. Our #8 car with Anthony Davidson, Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi will keep their podium winning 2012-spec high downforce TS030 HYBRID for the six-hour race at Spa.

The 2013-spec TS030 HYBRID has been updated with a modified chassis and powertrain. As well as performance, priorities were given to reliability and serviceability of parts during development. The aerodynamic package of the car has also been revised around an updated monocoque. The updated package is designed to deliver improved performance while minimising the impact of a weight penalty for manufacturer LMP1 cars which now sees a 15 kg increase in minimum weight.

Say: "cheese!"

Our colleagues at Toyota’s Motor Sport Division in Higashifuji has also fine-tuned the TOYOTA Hybrid System – Racing powertrain to improve power, efficiency, management of component usage and reliability. The 3.4-litre normally aspirated V8 petrol engine delivers 530hp, coupled with a super capacitor which recovers braking energy at designated braking zones to deliver a further 300hp automatic power boost.

The Spa race weekend will also run with a slightly different two-day schedule (instead of the traditional three-day race weekend). Two free practice sessions and qualifying will take place all on Friday, May 3. The six-hour race will kick off at 14:30 on Saturday afternoon (after a warm-up session in the morning).

Don’t forget to follow @Toyota_Hybrid for all the latest from Spa-Francorchamps!

Follow @Toyota_Hybrid

Read Alex’s Spa-Francorchamps track guide here.

Here are what our drivers had to say ahead of Spa:

But there’s more! Our colleagues at Lexus Europe recently asked Alex to test drive the all-new Lexus IS 300h around Paul Ricard. Watch how he got along below.

Update 03/05: Anthony Davidson looks ahead to 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamlps

Tricky conditions

The TMG GT86 Cup is up and running for 2013 with the first rounds offering contrasting emotions in very difficult circumstances at the Nürburgring.

High in the Eifel mountains, and during one of the longest winters in recent memories, the Nürburgring has a reputation for being an inhospitable venue at times.

Last weekend was no different when the TMG GT86 Cup teams arrived to very cold conditions and a damp track, which caught out many cars during the practice and qualifying sessions.

The TMG GT86 Cup did not escape the drama on a slippery, cold track. Five cars entered the Cup, however by race day only three were left standing – and some of those with noticeable repairs following accidents.

GT86's on track

Unfortunately the Toyota Swiss Racing car and that of Theo Kleen and Alexander Prinz could not take the start due to accident damage, creating a repeat of the first race, when five cars entered but only three lined up on the grid.

Still, that didn’t deter the three surviving GT86 CS-V3 race cars from putting on a show, despite very difficult track conditions which saw several heavy accidents throughout the field.

In the end, the #533 Dörr Motorsport car of Arne Hoffmeister, Arno Klasen and Wolfgang Kudrass took the chequered flag in a clear lead, having also set the fastest TMG GT86 Cup lap of the race, 10mins 25.410secs.

But Jutta Beisiegel and Alexander Kudrass, in the second-place #530 car of Leutheuser Racing & Events, took the lead in the standings.

VLN race at The Ring

As summer edges closer, so conditions on the Nordschleife should improve and lap times reduce.

TMG’s target is a sub-10-minute lap. Even in tricky conditions the GT86 CS-V3 has shown impressive performance and great reliability so the challenge is on for TMG GT86 Cup participants!

Outside of the TMG GT86 Cup, a team entered by TMG employees made its VLN debut in the V3 class. A great job by the volunteer team members – whose day jobs are very different to their team tasks – saw their GT86 CS-V3 finish a creditable fourth in class.

3rd place for TOYOTA Racing

TOYOTA Racing picked up a solid third place podium finish at the season opening 6 Hours of Silverstone race today. Starting from the front row of the grid, both cars led into the first corner in formation. Despite a promising start to the race weekend, we fell back to P3 and P4 during the opening stint, keeping status quo until the end of the race. Race report after the break.

We arrived to a very windy Silverstone circuit this morning. The skies seemed a lot friendlier than the last few days. First drivers in the cars were Alex Wurz in #7 and Anthony Davidson in #8. Both cars led the field in formation following their strong qualifying performance yesterday.

Running wide into Club Corner on lap 6 saw car #7 lose its lead. When the positions finally settled, we were P3 with the #8 car and P4 with the #7 car as the track temperatures didn’t suit the chosen Michelin tyre compound.

The unpredictable weather conditions in Northamptonshire played its part which ended up with the lead being changed 14 times over the full race distance. Our cars returned to the lead a few times when the leading Audis pitted for fuel and tyres.

Pit stop car #7

The heavens did eventually open on lap 73. Nicolas Lapierre, who took over the helm in the #7 car at this point, called for intermediate tyres which turned out not to be the ideal choice. Coming back again for slicks meant car #7 was two pit stops up on car #8.

At half race distance, our cars had completed 97 laps with Stéphane Sarrazin in car #8 in third and Nico running a long stint in #7 in fourth.

Sébastien Buemi took over from Stéphane just after half distance in the #8 car. Alex took over from Nico to start his final stint in the #7 car. Both cars switched tyre compounds which better suited the track conditions. Both cars were putting in 1:44s and 1:45s, showing stronger race pace.

Car #8 in parc ferme

Despite the lap time improvements, the gap was too big to close on the leaders.

Track positions remained the same until the end of the race. Anthony returned to take over the helm of the #8 car for the final stretch of the race, continuing to set quick lap times.

The chequered flag fell at 18:00 GMT with the #8 car picking up TOYOTA Racing’s first podium of the season in third, followed by the #7 car in fourth, both a lap down from the leaders.

Updated 16/4/2013: Race highlight video

Driver Diary with third place finisher Stéphane:

Our drivers reflect on today’s session:

Thank you to all our fans for messages of support throughout the race weekend, as well as everyone who followed our race coverage. We’ll be back for Round 2 of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season at Spa-Francorchamps on May 4.

Podium ceremony at Silverstone

Photo gallery from Sunday. For our full Friday gallery in high resolution click here

Rolling start

TOYOTA Racing started the season opening 6 Hours of Le Mans at the best possible position, with both cars qualifying on the front row. At half race distance, car #8 is P3, #7 is P4. Read more after the break.

Starting from pole at a windy Silverstone, #7 Alex Wurz led the pack into the first corner from our #8 car with Anthony Davidson at the wheel. Alex ran wide on lap 6 at Club Corner to allow one of the Audis to take the lead. Both cars held position in P3 and P4 for #7 and #8 respectively before Anthony overtook Alex one lap later switching positions.

Around lap 20, rain started falling on the circuit. The leading Audis pitted, moving Anthony into the lead and Alex in P2. Our cars came in for their first stops soon after. With 33 laps completed after the first hour, #8 car was P3, #7 was P4.

Car #8 pit stop

Next round of stops saw the positions swapping again. Nicolas Lapierre took over from Alex Wurz in #7 on lap 48 while Anthony Davidson handed over to Stéphane Sarrazin in car #8 one lap later.

Coming out from the pits, #8 was down to P5 but returned to P4 one lap later, overtaking fellow Toyota-powered Rebellion Racing.

A short but heavy rain shower on lap 73 saw Nico taking on an extra pit stop to switch tyres. At first Nico took on intermediates as the rain got worse, but soon returned to change back to slicks.

By half race distance, both cars completed 97 laps Stéphane in car #8 P3, 29 seconds behind leader, Nico in #7 in P4 1 lap down with two extra stops.

Follow @Toyota_Hybrid for all the latest from the 6 Hours of Silverstone.

Starting grid panorama

#7 and #8 on starting grid

Alex and Nico on pole

We will start tomorrow’s season opening 6 hours of Silverstone with both cars locking out the front row of the grid. Our #7 car set the fastest average lap with Alex and Nicolas at the wheel, while Anthony and Sébastien went second fastest to take P2. Read more after the break.

Free Practice 3

Saturday started bright and early at Silverstone. The Northampton circuit was bright with a beautiful spring sun with blue skies as backdrop. When Free Practice 3 kicked off at 09:00 GMT, the track was still damp and patchy at places.

Alex Wurz piloting the #7 car and Anthony Davidson in the #8 car were first on track. We occupied P3 and P4 with the #8 and #7 cars respectively early on in the session. The session was red flagged just as Anthony put down a purple first sector, forcing teams to bring their cars back to the pits.

Sunny morning greeted us

Sky turned grey pretty quickly

Not long after the restart, Anthony handed the reigns over to Sébastien Buemi in the #8 car. In the other car, Alex was pushing hard, shaving off some 3 sec to go from P4 to P1. Sébastien moved to P5 with a 1:56.012 in the #8 car before setting what was the fastest time of the session with a 1:51.539 on lap 17.

With around 10 min left of the session, dark clouds suddenly bloomed over the track with rain being reported. The pit lane quickly became damp before the chequered flag fell. Stéphane Sarrazin had a brief off-track moment as the conditions became ever changing.

We ended the final Free Practice session with #7 car in P4 (1:49.754 set on the 26th and final lap) and #8 car in P5 (1:51.539).

Qualifying

Both TOYOTA Racing TS030 HYBRID on track

Qualifying was next. As we mentioned in yesterday’s report, this year’s Qualifying is a short 20 min affair with two drivers needing to set a minimum two timed laps (only fastest counts). The final grid positions are based on the average of the four total laps set in each car.

That was a mouthful to explain…

Qualifying kicked off at 12:40 GMT as rain began to fall, once again throwing the possibilities wide open. First set of drivers to venture out on track for us were Nicolas Lapierre in #7 and Anthony in #8 both on intermediate tyres.

First lap times quickly popped up on the timing boards (our main point of reference for average lap times). Anthony was quick with a 1:56.866 in the #8 and 1:58.336 for Nico in the #7.

Car #8 (Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi, Stéphane Sarrazin)

But as the track conditions changed again, Anthony set what would become his second fastest lap with a 1:51.975. Next lap both drivers set their fastest times with Nico putting in a 1:50.103 and Anthony a 1:50.898 in the #8 car.

Job done, next set of drivers stepped into their cars. Nico handed the #7 over to Alex, while Anthony handed the #8 to Sébastien. At this point of the session, the average lap time for #7 was 1:49.602 and 1:50.459 for the #8 car.

Our #7 crew decided to change Alex to slick tyres proved to be a bold and successful move. Alex quickly took advantage of the drying track conditions to set the fastest lap of the session with a 1:43.281.

Team eagerly awaits on track results

Sébastien stayed out with intermediates although the #8 car was able to secure second place for the start of tomorrow’s race.

The session ended with a bit of confusion as the timing screens correctly showed Alex in pole position while Sébastien down in the late teens. It also seemed to show the #8 car completing only three of the four laps to meet minimum requirement.

Nevertheless, the #7 half of our garage were already celebrating a breath taking pole position with an average time of 1:48.021.

When the timing screens finally refreshed to display the correct information, we realised our car #8 drivers put themselves in P2 with an average lap time of 1:49.995, 1.9 sec behind the #7 car. Smiles and back slapping all around in our garage followed!

Pole position for #7 Alex and Nico

The lap time confusion continued as the race stewards announced that the times were not yet confirmed due to software glitches. An hour after Qualifying concluded for LMP1 & LMP2, we finally received confirmation of our momentous start to the 2013 FIA WEC season with a front row lock out.

Driver Diary video series with Sébastien

Here’s what our drivers had to say:

We’re now looking forward to tomorrow’s race. Our engineers are pouring over all the data gathered through the sessions to ensure we’ll have a good setup for the race.

The six-hour race will commence from a rolling start tomorrow at 12:00 GMT.

Follow our live Silverstone coverage on Twitter @Toyota_Hybrid

Very happy engineers and mechanics

Photo gallery from Saturday. For our full Friday gallery in high resolution click here

TOYOTA Racing TS030 HYBRID at Silverstone

Friday at Silverstone started off quite wet with persistent rain falling and chilly conditions. Free Practice 1, first session of the season opening 6 Hours of Silverstone, kicked off with air and track temperature in single figures, around 8°C. Read more for our complete Friday report and photo gallery.

Free Practice 1

An evening downpour on Thursday night continued today, leaving the circuit in quite wet conditions. Our first drivers out on track during Free Practice 1 were Alex Wurz in the #7 car and Stéphane Sarrazin in the #8 car.

Wets and intermediates were tyres of choice in the field with lap times of low 2 minutes as the benchmark. As cars pounded around Silverstone, the track began to dry a little. Alex threw caution in the wind with a 1:59.950 holding onto P1.

Cars #7 and #8 on track

After an hour of FP1, we were in P1 with #7 and P5 with #8. Nicolas Lapierre and Sébastien Buemi, cars #7 and #8 respectively, took over the helm and headed out onto the still wet circuit.

With 30 min left of the session, #7 car was down to P2 while the #8 car moved up to P4. Sébastien then went on to set the #8 car’s session best 1:56.650 in P3 before stepping out and handing over to Anthony Davidson.

We ended Free Practice 1 in P3 with car #7 (1:56.549) and P4 with car #8 (1:56.650) after both completing 33 laps.

Free Practice 2

It was really quite wet

The dreaded rain came back just before Free Practice 2. As we occupy the last two garages in the pit lane, both our cars lead the way our following each other with Nicolas in #7 and Sébastien in #8.

Nicolas in the hot seat

Nicolas set the first time of the session with a 2:00.862 before being the first to head below 2 minutes with a 1:58.670. First time for Anthony in #8 came in at 1:58.052 before shaving nearly 3 seconds off to go P1.

The sun finally broke through some heavy clouds as Anthony left the pits after a short stop for both cars. Times dropped below 1:50 with #8 in P3 and #7 in P4.

With the first half hour completed, we were Nicolas in #7 was P3 and Anthony in #8 P6. On lap 14, Anthony moved up to P5 with 1:45.520. During the next pit stop, Anthony handed the #8 car over to Sébastien and Nicolas handed over to Alex in the #7 car. Changing weather conditions struck again as drops of rain started falling in the pits as Alex headed back out.

After one hour in Free Practice 2, our #7 car was in P3 with 1:43.843 set on lap 13 while #8 stayed P6. 20 minutes more track time and, as the rain started to pour down again, both cars came in to complete the session and a last round of pit stop practice. The two cars completed 29 and 27 laps for #7 and #8 cars respectively.

Impressive Silverstone Wing

Here’s what our drivers thought about today’s sessions:

New for 2013: Driver Video Diary

We’ll be back on track tomorrow bright (hopefully) and early at 09:00 GMT for final Free Practice. Qualifying starts at 12:40 GMT and runs for 20 minutes for LMP1 and LMP2 cars. Rule change this season means two drivers from each car must set two timed laps. The grid will be determined by the average time of the four timed laps in total.

Follow our live Silverstone coverage on Twitter @Toyota_Hybrid

2013 FIA WEC Group Photo

Tourist Trophy with our own Anthony and Audi's Allan McNish

Check out our selected gallery. For our full Friday gallery in high resolution click here

Pit stop practice panorama

TS030 HYBRID launch earlier this year

The 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship is just around the corner and TOYOTA Racing is ready to electrify Silverstone. Last year, after the team’s bitter-sweet return to Le Mans, TOYOTA Racing’s #7 TS030 HYBRID returned to the track at Silverstone for its first six-hour race, setting the LMP1 lap record and secured the team’s first podium in second place. Race preview and exclusive 2013 season preview video after the break.

Regular readers and followers of TOYOTA Racing will know our team only competed in six of the eight FIA WEC rounds last season as the team’s “learning” season. Against all odds, TOYOTA Racing came through to win three races, including the final two of the season, our home race at Fuji Speedway and the season finale in China.

Drivers for #7 and #8 TS030 HYBRID

This year, we’re starting the season from the opener, with two cars and ready to take on the challenge of Silverstone, confident from our performance last year.

As with last year, Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima will share our #7 TS030 HYBRID.

Kazuki won’t be joining us in Silverstone this weekend as he’ll be defending his Super Formula (previously Formula Nippon) title at Suzuka.

Stéhane, Anthony and Sébastien

Our second entry, the #8 TS030 HYBRID, will have Anthony Davidson, Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi at the helm.

Our #8 drivers will be reunited for the first time since Le Mans last June.

For Anthony, it will be his first race behind the wheel of the TS030 HYBRID since his spectacular accident at Le Mans last year. Test has proved he is not only back to full fitness – he’s still on full throttle too!

Relive TOYOTA Racing’s return to Le Mans in 2012:

Team garage at Paul Ricard Test

Between Le Mans and Silverstone last year, our team based at Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne, Germany worked hard to deliver a new high-downforce aero update for the Northampton circuit. We will use the same specification for both our cars this weekend.

The 2013 evolution of our TS030 HYBRID will make its debut at Spa-Francorchamps next month.

Video exclusive: TOYOTA Racing 2013 Season Preview: