Hartley: “We copied the settings from the sister car, so thanks to them! »

A new time, Toyota a montré qui était le patron en Hypercar. Grâce à Brendon Hartley on the #010 GR8, the Japanese team took the last pole position of the year for the 8 Hours of Bahrain, on the Sakhir circuit. “It was one of my best rounds, to be honest, confided the New Zealander after qualifying. I knew when I crossed the line that it was a very good time. I immediately asked my engineer: 'what is the 2nd best time?' to compare. »

A pole position which arrives at the best of times, in the final confrontation with the trio from Alpine. The French car will start last of the Hypercars, in 5th place. However, according to Brendon Hartley, pole was not so obvious on the evening of the first day of testing, Friday. “It hasn't been a perfect weekend on our side of the garage. We had a lot of trouble on Friday and during Free Practice 3 we just copied and pasted the settings from the other car. They were much stronger than us in FP3, so we copied their set-up. That’s the advantage of having a sister car! Thanks to them for finding the right settings! (Laughs) »

« We may seem very dominant but I can guarantee you that was not the case” assures Hartley

For its part, the No. 7 Toyota achieved “only” the 3rd time, behind a Peugeot . Irony of fate or strategy to favor No. 8? In any case, the New Zealander believes that he has done a good job on his part to ensure a good starting position. “The tires worked perfectly on this first lap, but the track was changing a lot, which was a bit of a surprise. I think I warmed up the tires perfectly from this first flying lap. I continued to attack on a second lap, but I was already losing a lot of time. A big thank you to the team once again. We may seem very dominant but I can guarantee you that was not the case, especially after the free practice. »

The No. 8 Toyota will have to fight against the Peugeots andAlpine, but also against temperature changes. With a daytime departure and nighttime arrival, the Hypercars could behave differently on Saturday depending on the schedule. “This is a factor that we must take into account. These tires are very sensitive to temperatures. Finding the right scale for the race will be a big challenge. There will be discussions this evening to find the right settings for tomorrow. »

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