Hartley Upbeat About Second After Starting “On Back Foot”

Brendon Hartley was upbeat about the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid’s second-place finish in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps after he and his co-drivers recovered from the rear of the grid.

Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa finished second at the end of Saturday’s FIA World Endurance Championship round, completing a comeback drive after starting from 36th based on Hartley crashing out of qualifying before setting a lap time.

The uphill battle for the No. 8 Toyota was emphasized by a “big hit” on the car’s tire allocation after the New Zealander’s accident at Raidillon damaged a set of slicks.

To make matters worse, the race began in wet conditions, which meant Hartley’s co-driver Buemi needed to navigate the GTE-Am and LMP2 class cars using slick tires.

“We were seriously on the back foot after the crash in quali yesterday,” Hartley said.

“We flat-spotted a set of tires so we started the race one set down, which we knew was going to be a challenge.

“Seb [Buemi] did an amazing job in the first stint to stay out of trouble. He started on slicks, which was absolutely the right call. But it came with quite a lot of risks, starting at the back.

“To come out with second, and first, I don’t think we were really the quickest car on paper today. But we took the right calls at the right time.

“There were different compounds at play; now there were three. There could have been all sorts of mixes going on out there.

“As a team, we did a perfect race to not take unnecessary risks and have the right strategy at the right time. If you asked me yesterday if I would have taken second, I would have said absolutely.”

Hartley felt that eventual winners Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez and Mike Conway would have been deserving victors even in a scenario where the No. 8 car hadn’t started from the back.

“We went in different directions on setup, and they had a bit of an edge on us,” he said.

“We have to analyze it, but it looks like they maybe did a slightly better job. Kamui did a better job at the end. He had new tires and we didn’t have any left.”

The closing stages of the six-hour contest saw Hartley and teammate Kobayashi involved in a dramatic positional change at Raidillon after the No. 8 Toyota’s final pit stop.

Hartley rejoined the circuit narrowly ahead of Kobayashi, who rapidly closed the gap as the Kiwi struggled to get temperature into his tires.

Kobayashi pulled off a wild overtaking maneuver, passing Hartley and taking to the right-side runoff area at the top of the hill before going on to win.

Toyota Gazoo Racing technical director Pascal Vasselon explained that Kobayashi was somewhat caught off guard by the speed difference between the two cars as Hartley took extra care on his out lap.

“Kamui has been surprised,” Vasselon said.

“Brendon was very careful on new tires and we know that is important.

“We can understand Brendon was especially careful after what has happened [in qualifying]. Kamui has been a bit surprised and had to avoid him going off-track.

“We immediately told to the race direction that Kamui had been surprised by Brendon, and for us there is no issue. They have put a five-second penalty.”

Hartley, for his part, said he anticipated the pass was coming given the lack of temperature in two of his tires.

“I was trying to not get in the way because I was coming out of the pits with left-hand side cold tires,” he reflected.

“I expected he was going to pass me if he was coming out so close behind. I think we can be very happy to have such a recovery after yesterday.

“I did say yesterday that I didn’t feel I was going to be the only one. I did feel pretty silly putting it in the wall on an out-lap.

“But it was very tricky here with the cold conditions. It was like ice at some points.”