Hirakawa: Toyota Has Made TR010 ‘More Predictable’

Ryo Hirakawa believes that Toyota has produced a more well-balanced and predictable car for the upcoming FIA World Endurance Championship season as it prepares to give the upgraded TR010 Hybrid its race debut at Imola next weekend.

Toyota took the covers off the renamed TR010 in January, the Japanese marque having deployed a single Evo joker to embark on a radical overhaul of the two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning machine’s aerodynamics after a tough 2025 season.

The revamped car has embarked on an extensive test program over the winter, most recently completing two days of running at Motorland Aragon in late February.

Hirakawa, who once again shares Toyota’s No. 8 car with Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley as part of an unchanged driver roster for the new season, believes the update has not only improved the car’s top speed, which was highlighted by Toyota Racing technical director David Floury as a key weakness last year, but also its handling.

“I would say it has been successful,” Hirakawa told Sportscar365. “Really happy for the progress we made, but we believe the others have also made progress.

“From my feeling, the car has better handling and better top speed. We are starting the season from Imola, which is a different track [from where we have tested] with different characteristics, but I would say for Le Mans we are doing good preparations so far.”

Going into more detail on how the handling has improved, Hirakawa added: “I think it’s both the balance and the predictability.

“Last year’s car was sometimes difficult to drive, with sometimes oversteer, understeer. Last year we definitely found this out and learned this lesson.

“The handling is more suited for high-speed corners, or if I talk about it in terms of Le Mans, it’s more like sector one with the Esses, and the last corners with the chicanes. So I think we have improved both areas, which is good.

“The regulations have been the same now for a long time, so we need to find even small things, we are trying everything. Any small gain we are trying to chase.”

Despite the improvements made to the TR010, and the fact that Toyota won at Imola as recently as 2024, Hirakawa played down the chances of challenging for a victory on the updated car’s debut owing to unfavorable track characteristics.

“We are not the strongest, I would say, in Imola, so we are trying to find a solution,” he said. “Imola is important for curb riding without losing the downforce or grip, so we are trying to have better handling over the curbs, which has been positive, so let’s see.

“But I would say Imola is not our strength. Ferrari has been strong there.”

Hirakawa said that the second round at Spa in May will provide the first true acid test of whether Toyota’s upgrades are likely to yield success at Le Mans.

“At Spa, you reach 310, 320 [km/h], so we will see top speed and find out a bit,” he said. “We only have two races before Le Mans, so we need to fine-tune everything.

“But we are excited; maybe you can say confident. Let’s see.”