TOYOTA GAZOO Racing faced challenges during the 6 Hours of São Paulo, marking a tough week at Interlagos for the fifth round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Unlike their previous success in Brazil, this year’s performance was hampered by difficulties from the start. Both GR010 HYBRIDs finished outside the top 10 due to performance and speed issues.
The #7 GR010 HYBRID, driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries, finished in 14th place. Meanwhile, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa in the #8 GR010 HYBRID ended up in 15th position. This result marks TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s first time missing out on World Championship points since the 6 Hours of Silverstone in 2018.
The race started with Brendon Hartley and Mike Conway beginning from 10th and 18th positions respectively. Despite initial progress using medium and hard Michelin tires, both cars fell out of the top 10 by the first pit stops around one hour into the race. Driver changes after two hours saw Nyck de Vries take over car #7 and Ryo Hirakawa take control of car #8.
Despite efforts to close in on points positions through consistent pace on older tires, both cars remained out of reach for a top-10 finish. The race included an unusual interruption when a kite had to be removed from the track.
As they prepare for Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on September 7th, Kamui Kobayashi stated: “I am really disappointed with the performance and result because finishing 14th and 15th is not what we expect… We need to analyze this and work hard to improve.”
Mike Conway expressed similar sentiments: “It has been a pretty tough day… In the end, both cars were just running at the wrong end of the field unfortunately.”
Nyck de Vries added: “It’s a big difference compared to last year… But we are a strong team, and we will work hard over summer.”
Brendon Hartley remarked: “A difficult day in office… I hope we can fight for wins again in next races.”
Ryo Hirakawa commented: “It was very tough race… It’s difficult day for everyone in team.”
The provisional results saw Cadillac Team JOTA secure first place with their #12 car completing 242 laps.
