Toyota and the “Ferrari anomaly” in Portimão

The difference between Toyota and Ferrari during qualifying for the 6 Hours of Portimão surprised many people, including in the ranks of the Japanese manufacturer.

Published on 16/04/2023 à 09:00

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Toyota and the “Ferrari anomaly” in Portimão

Will Ferrari succeed in surprising Toyota in the game of tire strategy? - Photo Paulo Maria / DPPI

A world of difference. In Portimão, for the second qualifying session of the season in WEC, Toyota inflicted a rout on the competition by relegating his opponents to almost a second and a half. All the more surprising that Ferrari, in the first row of the pursuers, had taken pole position in the 1000 Miles of Sebring for the opening of the exercise.

« We were very surprised because this is clearly not what the analysis of the Free Practice gave us, judged Pascal Vasselon, the technical director of Toyota Gazoo Racing, late Saturday afternoon. The anomaly is really Ferrari because the gap with the others is comparable to Sebring, except for Cadillac, from whom we expected difficulties due to the fact that they had no experience on this circuit. »

Such a difference could above all be explained by completely different tire strategies between the two manufacturers. “ We chose to qualify on Medium tires against Soft tires at Toyota » revealed to us an interlocutor in the Italian clan.

Meet at 13 p.m. (in France) for the start of the 6 Hours of Portimão.

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