Floury: Toyota Didn’t Consider Third Driver to Replace Buemi

Photo: James Moy/Toyota

Toyota Gazoo Racing didn’t consider replacing Sebastien Buemi in its lineup for this weekend’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo according to TGR-Europe technical director David Floury, who doesn’t expect any major changes in strategy for the two-driver crewed No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.

The Japanese manufacturer will utilize a driver pairing for the first time in more than eight years, dating back to when Jose Maria Lopez was ruled out of the 6 Hours of Spa in 2017 due to a back injury sustained in an accident in the previous round at Silverstone.

While Lopez, who has since become Toyota’s reserve driver, was technically a possibility to join Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa in the car this weekend, Floury dismissed such a prospect due to the trickle-down effect it would have on the greater Toyota effort.

Lopez drives full-time for sister manufacturer Lexus in the LMGT3 ranks with Akkodis ASP, with Sao Paulo also falling on a conflicting weekend with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which prohibits Lexus factory drivers Jack Hawksworth or Ben Barnicoat to serve as substitutes in the Lexus RC F GT3.

“[Jose Maria] is also part of the Lexus program,” Floury told reporters Thursday at Interlagos. “So if he comes in the Hypercar, then we have to find a driver for the Lexus. We have Mosport on the same weekend so Jack or Ben cannot jump in.

“We didn’t really consider [it] because here it should be easy to cover with two drivers. It’s not such a big deal.”

Floury revealed that Toyota gave Buemi, who hasn’t missed a FIA World Endurance Championship race since becoming a full-time Toyota driver in 2013, permission to race in this weekend’s ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race in Berlin following their result in last month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The No. 8 Toyota finished the race in 15th after a front-left wheel nut failure late in the running, which dropped the driving trio to a distant eighth in the drivers’ world championship with four races remaining.

“After Le Mans, based on the championship chances, we thought, ‘OK,'” said Floury.

“[Seb] opened the discussion with us because it was important for him to race in Formula E. We accepted that he would not race with us [this weekend].

“It’s been a long, long time that he’s not been on a race weekend with us.”

Floury downplayed that a two-driver lineup could change the team’s strategy this weekend.

“All our drivers are very close together, so it doesn’t change anything,” he said.

The No. 8 Toyota will be one of a record seven Hypercar entries utilizing two-driver lineups, largely due to the Formula E clash.

Hartley: ‘We’ll Miss Seb for His Contributions’

For Hartley, who hasn’t undertaken a WEC race as a two-driver lineup before, the Kiwi said he and Hirakawa will miss Buemi for his significant contribution to the team as a whole.

“I think there’s positives and negatives,” Hartley told Sportscar365. “We’ll miss Seb. We work as a team and all have inputs. He’s contributing a lot every weekend.

“On the positive side, you get more track time before the race. Sometimes these sessions, with red flags… It can happen that you arrive on the race and you feel like you could have done a few more laps.

“It’s possible going into the race that me and Ryo will feel more prepared.

“But it’s a lot of laps around here and it’s a very busy lap around here, so I guess there will be some mental fatigue and figuring out what strategy to do and and how many stints to do at a time for each driver.

“Overall, the goal is to try to win the race. Seb will be missed but it will be interesting to do a race with two drivers and see how that feels.”

When asked to expand on Buemi’s contribution, Hartley said: “We’re all experienced but we all have our strong and weak points. It’s funny how the dynamic progresses with three drivers.

“I’m quite often looking at brake balance and setting up corner by corner. Ryo’s often looking into the on-boards, finding little tricks with the [traction control] and Seb’s very good on different parts of the setup.

“We all know our strengths and weaknesses and we all take bits and pieces from all of us. I guess me and Ryo will try to pick up what Seb normally contributes, but we’re going to be fine.

“We’ve got an incredible team of engineers around us. He’ll be missed but I’m looking forward to some more free track time in Free Practice.”

Davey Euwema contributed to this report

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John