Pascal Vasselon: “At Fuji we feel more passion than pressure”
Toyota Gazoo Racing Technical Director Pascal Vasselon outlines the features of the 6 Hours of Fuji, the reigning FIA WEC World Champions’ home round.
The French engineer also discusses the Toyota GR010’s room for improvement ahead of the 2024 season.
With four wins out of a possible five, including two 1-2s at Sebring and Spa-Francorchamps, Toyota Gazoo Racing is living up to its reputation as the FIA WEC’s team to beat.
Toyota is leading both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Hypercar Championships, with the No. 8 at the top of the latter with only two races left. This weekend, Toyota unpack their trophy-laden suitcases at the Fuji Speedway for the sixth and penultimate round of the series.
The 6 Hours of Fuji are Toyota Gazoo Racing’s home race in more ways than one. The GR010 HYBRID’s power unit is built in Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji Technical Center, just a few miles south of the famous Fuji Speedway.
“The positive attendance and the support of the whole workforce developing our power unit make this race special”, outlines Pascal Vasselon. “They are all here because it is the opportunity for them, in a way, to see and feel their brainchild!”
TGR’s Technical Director does not feel in those circumstances, with the expected presence of many members of the Toyota board this weekend, a peculiar weight on his shoulders. Quite the contrary. “For whatever reason, all races are important”, explains Pascal.
“The 24 Hours of Le Mans, obviously. But we also really wanted to win the 6 Hours of Monza to get ourselves a nice revenge on Ferrari on their turf. And obviously, we also want to win at Fuji. The pressure is always there. But at Fuji, we feel more passion than pressure.”
Toyota especially felt the thrill of victory in their own backyard recently. Only Porsche, in 2015, put a dent on the Japanese manufacturer’s perfect record at Fuji since the inception of the FIA WEC in 2012. Toyota achieved four consecutive 1-2s on the last four editions of the 6 Hours of Fuji.
Even the Aichi carmaker’s supremacy in the sport can’t alone explain those impressive stats. “We have among our Japanese pilots (Team Principal Kamui Kobayashi in the No. 7 and Ryo Hirakawa in the No. 8) great Fuji experts”, adds Pascal. “It is significant in very tangible aspects like the peculiar traffic management, especially in the fast second sector. Same thing when it rains. One needs to know where are the puddles and where lies the grip. Our Japanese drivers, who are all competing in Super Formula, constantly inform their teammates with the latest updates.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing Technical Director doesn’t forget that, sometimes, luck was on their side at Fuji. The fog-affected 2017 edition was definitely red-flagged entering the fifth hour when both of the Toyota TS050 were leading.
“We worked on drivability and reliability-linked aspects”, added Pascal. “It seems that improving this car’s drivability and progressivity also had a clear impact on pure performance-related factors. From the early shakedowns, we took note of interesting improvements that we noticed on most of the tracks. We are very happy with the few evolutions brought on the GR010 for this season. At Le Mans, we were the only team spared by reliability issues on both cars.”
Even if Toyota did not clinch the season’s main event, the Japanese manufacturer are in the driving seat to pull off a fifth consecutive clean sweep in both Championships, the third in the Hypercar era. “We are leading and that’s our objective”, mentions Pascal. “We absolutely want to win both Championships, as if to confirm that we did not win in those last years by accident! We attach great importance to showing that, even against highly competitive opponents, we are still able to continue our winning streak in FIA WEC.”
Next season will see Toyota Gazoo Racing take on a more competitive than ever Hypercar class with the expected arrivals of Alpine, BMW and Lamborghini. And Pascal Vasselon can’t wait for it. “
This will be even more fun! As well as very entertaining and exciting, on and off track.” The French engineer and his teams are already working hard to give them the best possible odds and engage the most competitive and reliable Hypercar they can for 2024. “We are working on possible improvements. We notice all the time components that may last longer or cause us fewer issues. We are also in a process of long-term cost reduction because these cars will keep racing for a while. We are planning evolutions for 2024. A multitude of details can still be upgraded.”
Click HERE to read the offiical preview ahead of this weekend’s 6 Hours of Fuji.
