In difficult circumstances, the #8 GR010 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa fought hard to score points in ninth. However, José María López, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries suffered an off-track incident and ended up 14th in their #7 GR010 HYBRID.
In a race featuring multiple safety cars and a slippery track, drivers were tested to the limit in front of a 66,217 weekend crowd, who braved the weather to give their support throughout a dramatic six-hour contest.
Fans and teams had to be patient until racing could finally begin after nearly two hours – including an hour behind the safety car and a red flag period – with Brendon seventh in the #8 and Nyck 17th in the #7. Brendon dropped to 10th while Nyck moved up to 13th before another safety car a few laps later.
When racing resumed again, Nyck continued his charge and passed several rivals to break into the top 10. At the first driver changes just before half distance, during another safety car, José took over the #7 in eighth. Brendon had two off-track moments before Ryo started his stint in 11th.
Conditions deteriorated as the rain intensified, triggering incidents throughout the field when the race went green. Ryo was pushed into a spin by an LMGT3 car, but he fought back from 15th to 11th before handing over to Sébastien late in the fourth hour. A dramatic stint for the #7 ended with José stuck in the turn 13 gravel after two earlier spins. He was recovered under a safety car, before Kamui took the wheel in 17th.
The race was green again only briefly before yet another safety car. Sébastien then moved up to eighth heading into the final 90 minutes, although he lost a position to the recovering #83 Ferrari. The track began to dry inside the final half hour, and Kamui changed to slick tyres but suffered a harmless spin soon after.
Sébastien kept it clean through the final minutes to take the flag in ninth, with Kamui finishing 14th, four laps down. The team now turns its focus to achieving a stronger result at its home race, the 6 Hours of Fuji, on 28 September.
Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7):
“It was a tough day for us. We were running eighth for a while, but we knew that with our pace we could not achieve much better. Obviously when we got stuck in the gravel, we had no chance after that, and we could only bring the car home. It’s been a hard week for us. The next race is Fuji, so it’s a big one for us and we want to come back stronger.”
José María López (Driver, car #7):
“It was not easy on either side of the garage and we struggled with the conditions. We just couldn’t find grip with the car. It was not the race I wanted but I have no regrets. Racing in those conditions after a year out of the car was extremely difficult. But these experiences only make us stronger, and the team will bounce back, I’m sure.”
Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7):
“We faced extremely difficult conditions and tough circumstances. We started from the back, and we had a pretty good first part of the race before a few incidents. Ultimately, we were just lacking pace, and we couldn’t fight at the front. We need to try to recover and reach a good performance level again because we have not been competitive enough here.”
Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8):
“The weather was really tough out there, not only for the drivers, but for everyone. Thanks to the fans for staying and supporting us despite the conditions. We didn’t get the result we wanted although we gave it everything. We couldn’t fight with the leading cars today and we want to improve this for the rest of the season, particularly the next race in Japan.”
Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8):
“It was a very tough day. We didn’t have the pace to compete at the front, even though the whole team pushed really hard to extract the maximum from our car. We had no real issues, but we could not challenge further up the field. It was a character-building day, but we are going to fight back as hard as we can to get a good result in our home race.”
Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8):
“We did our best, but it was not our day. The conditions were very challenging for everyone. Now we look to the next one, because it is our home race. So, we have to do our best to prepare well and come back stronger. The last two races have been very challenging, but I hope we can deliver a much better result in Fuji.”