Sébastien Buemi: “Always a special weekend” in Fuji

Le Toyota Gazoo Racing retrouvera sa course à domicile ce dimanche aux 6 Heures de Fuji. Historiquement, le tracé nippon a joué un rôle important dans l’histoire de la marque en endurance. La 2000GT s’est ainsi imposée ici en 1967, à l’occasion des 24 Heures de Fuji, mais aussi des 1 000 km. La Toyota 7 s’y est également distinguée en remportant la dernière épreuve nommée en 1968 et 1969. Depuis le début de l’ère du WEC, le TGR est monté sur la plus haute marche du podium à sept reprises en huit courses, la Porsche 919 Hybrid n°17 de Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber breaking the hegemony in 2015.

“It’s a very important race for us, Explain Sébastien Buemi at AUTOhebdo. It's the home race for the team, so it's important to perform well. The engine factory is only a few kilometers from the circuit, so we have quite a few employees who come. We want to be competitive here. » Fuji Speedway is only about twenty kilometers from Toyota's technical center, based in Higashi-Fuji, where the GR010's hybrid powertrain is designed, developed and built. The event having been absent from the calendar since 2019 due to the pandemic, this will be the Japanese Hypercar's grand premiere in front of its public.

Capricious weather in Fuji

The 4,563 kilometer circuit is the shortest on the calendar, despite its 1,5km straight, the second longest of the season after the Le Mans circuit. “It's not my favorite track, I think it lacks a bit of character, but I like being there. It's always a special weekend for us. When the weather is nice, it's great. The track is quite small and although there is a very long straight, there are a lot of corners throughout the rest of the circuit and therefore a lot of traffic with the slower cars. We'll see how it goes this weekend. There is also the weather to take into account, since it is quite capricious at this time of year. »

The Swiss driver knows what he is talking about, having won a 2017 edition marked by difficult weather conditions. After a start given under Safety Car and at the end of a race interrupted before its initial end due to fog, Sébastien Buemi won alongside Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima on the No. 050 Toyota TS8 Hybrid. Conditions that the native of Aigle hopes to avoid this year: “It's a bit sad for the event to have conditions like this, but it's part of the championship to have races in the rain. » The 1000 Miles of Sebring and the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the first two races of the season, both marked by difficult weather conditions, are the most recent examples. 

Buemi, triple winner at Fuji

The Fuji Speedway route has often smiled on Sébastien Buemi, already a three-time winner at the foot of the famous Japanese volcano (2014, 2017, 2019). If he were to win again on Sunday, he would equal the Japanese Hiroshi Fushida (1968, 1969, 1974, 1979) and Kazuki Nakajima (2012, 2013, 2017, 2019) to become co-holder of the victory record. This 2022 edition is all the more important for Toyota Gazoo Racing, because the GR010 Hybrid n°8 that the Swiss shares with Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa must make up for a ten-point deficit with theAlpine A480Andre Negro, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Nicolas lapierre. “From the perspective of the championship, it is almost obligatory to win, confirms the Aiglon. Otherwise it will be very difficult. In a championship of six races, our retirement at Spa is very hard, because we score nothing, whileAlpine scored the points for fourth place at Le Mans even though she finished very far behind. »

In Sarthe, Alpine indeed scored 24 points by finishing in 23rd place in the general classification, just one less than the nest egg which will reward the victorious crew on Sunday. This is explained by his fourth place in the Hypercar category. “That's how the championship works, but I find it a bit of a shame, because they don't even finish in fourth place in the general classification and score a lot of points”, regrets Buemi. With a car 18 kilos lighter and a Alpine with reduced power compared to the 6 Hours of Monza, the No. 8 Toyota will have the mission of regaining points in the A arrow to present itself at the WEC final, on November 12 in Bahrain, in a position to be once again crowned at the world championship. 

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