Toyota ready for Bahrain
Photo: DPPI media
Following Toyota Racing’s dominant display at Interlagos, winning from pole position in just its third race with the Toyota TS030 HYBRID, the team and its driver line up of Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre are all looking forward to the 6 Hours of Bahrain with even greater anticipation.
With Kazuki Nakajima once again on Super GT duty in Japan, the Austrian-French pairing will share duties behind the wheel of the No.7 LMP1 entry in the desert heat of Bahrain. The Sakhir track is very familiar to both drivers from their time in F1 and GP2, and many within the Toyota Racing team have also competed there in other formulas.
Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Team President: “With just two weeks between Brazil and Bahrain we didn’t have a lot of time to celebrate the first victory of TOYOTA Racing, but we certainly enjoyed the winning feeling. Now we are totally focused on Bahrain and motivated to experience this feeling again very soon; of course we hope that will be this weekend. Obviously winning was an emotional moment but it was also extremely satisfying to again experience a trouble-free weekend, as well as demonstrating improved fuel consumption and faster pit stops. We must again work hard and optimise every aspect of our operations to again take the fight to Audi.”
Alex Wurz, No.7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid: “I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the TS030 HYBRID again after our victory in Brazil. That was such a special weekend for the whole team but the season continues and we have another challenge ahead of us in Bahrain. I know the track well from my Formula 1 days, and recently from testing LMP1 cars there. The weather looks like it will be really hot this weekend, up to 40°C, so that will be a new challenge for us but I am confident we are ready. In Sao Paulo we showed good improvement in several areas but we cannot take it easy now; we must continue to push to once again fight for the top step of the podium.”
Nicolas Lapierre, No.7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid: “We have a very quick turnaround after Sao Paulo so it has been quite a hectic few days for me and the team. I visited TMG last week to meet the team and celebrate our victory together; it was really motivating to see how important this was for everyone. I’m looking forward to our next race and I have a good record there. I actually won last time I raced in Bahrain, in GP2 in 2007, so I have happy memories. We showed in Brazil that the TS030 HYBRID is extremely competitive. Now we go to Bahrain with confidence, but our competition is very strong and it will be another tough battle.”
Fiona Miller (quotes from team press release)
Photo: AUTODROMO JOSE CARLOS PACE (INTERLAGOS, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL) 6 HOURS OF SAO PAULO, SATURDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER 2012, RACE. Nicolas Lapierre and Alex Wurz after winning the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo.