Toyota Racing continued its winning start to the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season with victory in a tense second race of 2014, the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Anthony Davidson, Nicolas Lapierre and Sébastien Buemi won the race to extend their lead in the Drivers’ World Championship and record a third consecutive win for the #8. TOYOTA Racing also extended its advantage in the Manufacturers’ World Championship with the #7 TS040 HYBRID of Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Kazuki Nakajima finishing third after an exciting race.
Nicolas Lapierre took the No. 8 Toyota TS040 Hybrid to a 1 minute and 13-second victory over Loic Duval’s No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, in a race that saw an early challenge from Porsche until both of the 919 Hybrids ran into trouble. Audi, meanwhile, struggled in the early stages but showed encouraging moments in the second half. But it wasn’t enough to derail the Japanese manufacturer from another near-perfect run, in the dress rehearsal to next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Porsche’s misfortunes opened up the door for the No. 1 Audi, which along with its sister diesel-powered prototypes, struggled for speed and fuel mileage, to finish second in the hands of Duval, Tom Kristensen and Lucas di Grassi. The No. 14 Porsche came home in fourth, ahead of the No. 2 Audi in fifth which, along with their FIA WEC season-long sister car, managed to double-stint early. Porsche’s No. 20 entry, meanwhile, hit suspension trouble early and made repeated trips to the garage with related issues, resulting in a 23rd place finish overall.
The next FIA WEC race will be the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 14-15.
