WEC
Pascal Vasselon: “Disagree that Toyota had no competition”
Kamui Kobayashi and Pascal Vasselon at the 6 Hours of Fuji 2022 (Photo Frédéric Le Floc'h / DPPI)
Pascal Vasselon, how are you approaching this weekend in Bahrain?
Nous l’abordons du mieux que nous pouvons, car il y a un championnat du monde à la clé avec aucune marge de manœuvre. Comme tout le monde l’a remarqué, c’est la voiture qui finira devant l’autre qui sera sacrée (entre la Toyota No. 8 andAlpine No. 36). We will therefore have to succeed in finishing in front.
What will this final be played out on?
On absolutely everything, but even more than usual on consistency. The tires suffer very strong degradation here. It's possible to have a few brilliant rounds before you suffer. This is something that concerns us greatly.
Are you going to rely on teamwork from the two Toyotas to trap Alpine ?
This is entirely possible, apart from the fact that it is no longer a question of scoring as many points as possible with the No. 8, but that it finishes ahead of theAlpine at the arrival. No. 7 won't be able to do anything about that! It could theoretically help, but once again, it's not about scoring maximum points. It will do us no good to ensure that the No. 7 finishes behind the No. 8 if theAlpine finishes in front. Victory will necessarily be secondary.
Did you expect so many responses fromAlpine this season ?
Some things seem poorly understood, including in AUTOhebdo when I read that Toyota had no competition. Particularly in terms of the Balance of Performance. It is there so that any competitor who arrives is immediately at the level. In a normal series, these newcomers wouldn't be immediately competitive, but with BoP they are. I disagree that Toyota has had no competition. We are not at all in the era of Audi and Pescarolo when there was a four-second gap. The regulations mean that all the cars that are there are competitive. If we manage to win against Alpine who has an extremely reliable car, we have done our job well. We can look at this as an anomaly or as something fantastic, because it ultimately gives us spirited races.
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Valentin GLO
Journalist. Endurance reporter (WEC, IMSA, ELMS, ALMS) and sometimes F1 or IndyCar.
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DANIEL MEYERS
10/11/2022 at 07:33 a.m.
What is this cinema? Toyota is 26 points ahead of 'Alpine' and it is only this classification that counts for a manufacturer entered in the WEC. Mr Vasselon, you are reading, or misunderstood! What we criticize about this championship (fortunately it's the last race, finally!) is that the competition with the nickname Alpine or totally artificial, in performance. Purely the Oreca LMP1 is at least 3 or 4 seconds faster than the GR010. There is starting to be some competition with the 9X8 and looking forward to next year, the 6-a-side match (8 or 9 from 2024!) is going to be great. (I hope)