Sébastien Buemi: “We were not the fastest Toyota”

Sébastien Buemi appeared divided at the finish of the 6 Hours of Spa yesterday in Belgium. Certainly, the Swiss pilot of Toyota Gazoo Racing pocketed alongside his teammates Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima his second victory in two events in WEC in 2017, but the resident of Renault e.dams in Formula e, admitted to having benefited from the racing circumstances.

The duo’s No. 050 Toyota TS7 Hybrid Conway - Kobayashi clearly seemed the fastest on the track in the Ardennes, after dominating the start of these 6 Hours.

But the Full Course Yellows did a disservice to the Japanese LM P1, leaving the No. 8 to return to the front, particularly after the first neutralization following the stop on the track of the Porsche 911 RSR n°86 – Gulf Racing UK.

" Today, we were not the fastest Toyota, confessed Buemi. The #7 car more deserved the victory. They wasted so much time with the Full Course Yellow.

Our car didn't really have the pace, so it's good to win without being the fastest. Maybe that's a good sign. Last year we were leading by a lap before we encountered a technical problem, so our luck really changed for us here. »

Kobayashi played the double

Anthony Davidson, for his part, estimated the time taken by the No. 8 over the No. 7 at a full minute, when at the finish, the two Japanese prototypes, equipped for this round with the high downforce aerodynamic kit, were not separated by less than two seconds.

Very fast in his last stint, on a track where the rain had appeared, Kamui Kobayashi seemed able to play for victory against the No. 8, but the Japanese played the team race to secure the double.

“In the last laps, it is not fair to attack when we are 1st and 2nd, underlines the Japanese. So I followed him. It’s good for the team to score as many points as possible. »

Find the full report and analysis of the 6 Hours of Spa, produced by our special correspondents in Belgium, in issue 2113 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.