Lapierre already “feels at home” at Toyota

Nicolas Lapierre says he already feels at home with Toyota-Gazoo Racing ahead of his return to the team in a third TS050 HYBRID at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps.

The reigning LMP2 champion has not raced with Toyota since the 6 Hours of COTA in 2014, but his impressive performances prompted the marque to bring him back into the fold for Spa and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as it seeks a first win at the historic event.

Lapierre was instantly on the pace on his first public appearance with the team at the Prologue and set the fastest time of the test on the final day. It was as if he had never been away. 

“There are a lot of new guys, the team has expanded a lot in the last two years, but it’s good, I feel at home because I know most of the people,” he said.

“Although the car has changed a lot, it has improved a lot since the last two years, so it’s nice. I feel comfortable since the first day I came and this is a good advantage for me.

“I’m very happy to be back, and to have a great opportunity to be in Le Mans in an LMP1, it’s really cool for me. I have had two great years in LMP2, but obviously it’s nice to be back.”

The No.8 Toyota of Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima won in high-downforce trim at Silverstone, but Spa will mark the first outing for the low-downforce package it will also use at Le Mans.

Lapierre recognises that there is pressure to repay Toyota’s decision to run a third car for the first time, but is optimistic that he has everything at his disposal to fight for victory.  

The Frenchman will share the No. 9 car with experienced hand Stéphane Sarrazin and WEC newcomer Yuji Kunimoto.

“The target is clear because, when Toyota decided to enter a third car for Le Mans, it was to get another chance to win the race,” said Lapierre.

“For sure there is pressure, but I think there is a bit of pressure on all the Toyota entries and every car manufacturer wants to win Le Mans.  It’s positive pressure.

“In the end, we have Stéphane with us in the car and he is a very experienced guy.  Yuji has had a lot of time in the car and he is a really fast driver, so we have the driver line-up, the engineers and everything – we have built a very strong team around this third car.

“We will just focus on our job, go step by step, and will see what the results will be.”