Another WEC (World Endurance Championship) season has ended and Toyota Gazoo Racing finished as champion, ahead of Porsche and Ferrari. It was the sixth consecutive championship title for this Japanese team.
The competition includes eight races across Europe, Asia, North America, South America and the Middle East, varying in distance from the shortest 6 Hours of Fuji to the longest 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s season record is five podiums, of which three wins and two pole positions, with 190 points won. With an incredible team effort and dominant driving, the drivers of the #8 GR010 Hybrid – Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi – were two points clear of the second-placed Porsche Penske Motorsport team and drivers Michael Christensen, Matt Campbell and Frederic Makowiecki.
The GR Supra GT4 EVO2 is a new generation of the racing car that will have its world premiere in January 2025, and Toyota Gazoo Racing has announced that it has started accepting orders.
The GR Supra GT4 debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in 2019, which was built as a racing study model for participating in the European GT4 racing series, as well as other GT4 class races around the world. So far, over 120 cars have been sold, which is an exceptional result for a racing car. These cars finished on the podium more than 500 times, becoming class champions in three regions: Asia, the United States of America and Europe.
This GR Supra GT4 EVO2 has a steel/aluminum construction with a high-strength roll cage to FIA regulations. It is powered by a 3.0-L 6-cylinder in-line engine with (660 Nm) of torque while the power is variable according to balance of performance requirements. The engine is mated to a modified ZF automatic transmission.
It is equipped with an Akrapovič exhaust system with a catalyst, a front suspension with a MacPherson solution and a rear multi-link suspension, as well as shock absorbers and springs according to the regulations of the GT4 series.
When it comes to price, the GR Supra GT4 EVO2 will cost around 202,000 euros in Europe.
This weekend, the most famous endurance race in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, celebrated its 100th anniversary, and the winner was Ferrari. They received a special jubilee cup, and it is interesting that the last time the team from Maranello was first in the general standings was in the mid-60s.
Many teams, such as Toyota Gazoo Racing, presented new cars for this jubilee race, but it was clearly not enough for success. Before the race itself, during training and in the qualifications, the Ferrari team showed that it arrived ready to conquer the track. Their Hypercar Prototype 499P, number 51, after a fierce several-hour battle with one of the two favored Toyota prototypes, reached the top podium, ending Toyota’s five-year winning streak at Le Mans, which dates back to 2018. A series that is not very well received by many fans of endurance racing, because (without real competition) the Japanese team from 2018 until this season in the FIA WEC, in fact, raced against itself.
More than 330,000 spectators were able to enjoy the race and the 10th constructor’s victory in the general standings of the Ferrari team. The main competitor, Toyota Gazoo Racing, had no chance this time. Their car, No. 8, finished second while the Cadillac finished third.
The biggest disappointment was the Porsche Penske team, as two of their three prototypes finished the race in 9th and 11th place. It is far from what we have expected from a company that celebrates its 75th birthday this year and has a record 19 Le Mans overall victories.
In the LM GTEAm class, the best was the Corvette Racing team, which will be remembered as the last team to win in Le Mans with a GTE car, because it is already known that they will be replaced by many cars from the GT3 class starting next season. It will bring more excitement, because from next season the teams of BMW, Lamborghini, Alpine, etc. will also compete.
