Toyota Gazoo Racing driver quotes after Sebring Prologue 13.03.2023: 1000 Miles of Sebring: Prologue 11-12 March 2023 Sunday, March 13th 2023 Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “Things have gone smoothly so far here in Sebring. Testing went quite well and the lap times look good but obviously this

1000 Miles of Sebring: Prologue
11-12 March 2023
Sunday, March 13th 2023

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “Things have gone smoothly so far here in Sebring. Testing went quite well and the lap times look good but obviously this was only a test; the race week will be different. We need to look at where we can improve.


We have new competition this season, but in reality the task does not change during testing and practice. We need to find our own speed and focus on preparing the car by improving the balance and set-up.


This year the biggest difference comes in qualifying and the races, when we cannot afford to make any mistakes because of the potential to lose a lot of positions. So, our target for the next days is clear; we want to find more speed to be in the best position for the race.”

Mike Conway (Driver, car #7): “We had a pretty solid two days. We had a big list of tasks to get through, comparing set-ups, tyres and testing different things. I feel like we achieved a lot, we learned a lot and it all went quite smoothly.


We have just been focusing on our programme and everything seemed to go well in terms of our pace. It’s hard to say how the competition is looking at the moment. We’re looking only at ourselves and it has been positive across the two cars. It has been an important two days and we are as ready as we can be.”



José María López (Driver, car #7): “Things have started well in general. As a team we showed good pace but this is not necessarily a reflection of what could happen in Friday’s race. We saw everyone else improved a lot today and the lap times are much closer.


We need to keep working on the car because we know the competition will continue to improve, so we need to find more speed to stay in front. But it is positive to start like this; we showed strong speed, and it was nice to see the two cars at the front so I am looking forward to next week.”



Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “It has been a good Prologue and it was obviously fun to be back in Sebring and fighting with the new Hypercar competitors. It is nice to look at the timing sheets and see so many Hypercars; this is a great moment for endurance racing.


We looked competitive over the two days and we showed good reliability on a challenging track and in hot conditions, which is all positive. But we don’t know how hard everyone is pushing, and how much more potential they have. We will see for sure in Friday’s race. We got some good data to look at in the next days so hopefully we can fight for a strong result next week.”




Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “It’s been great to see all the Hypercars on track together for the first time. We have had a trouble-free Prologue and managed to tick off most of our test items, thanks to two smooth days and a lot of hard work from the team.


As drivers we have all felt comfortable in the car and we’re all up to speed; it feels like we have made a nice step in terms of car balance compared to last year. We look competitive but we only know our run plan and not what the others are doing. We will keep working to get more out of our package and be ready for race week.”



Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “I am very happy to be back in Sebring and pleased with two productive days at the Prologue. It is positive to see the results but it’s too early to say much about the performance because we don’t know the programme of our competitors.


But I’m happy so far and I appreciate the hard work of the team to bring an updated car which worked so smoothly this weekend. Now I will take a bit of rest over the next couple of days and then focus fully on the race weekend.”





Prologue Day 1 - Morning Session

1st    #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing    1min 48.208secs    70 laps
2nd    #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing    +0.085secs    64 laps
3rd    #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn/Westbrook)    +1.045secs    44 laps
4th    #5 Porsche Penske (Cameron/Christensen/Makowiecki)    +1.442secs    69 laps
5th    #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi)    +1.516secs    61 laps
6th    #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor)    +1.661secs    54 laps
    

       
Prologue Day 1 - Afternoon Session

1st    #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn/Westbrook)    1min 48.429secs    58 laps
2nd    #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing    +0.014secs    74 laps
3rd    #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing    +0.124secs    70 laps
4th    #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen)    +0.973secs    35 laps
5th    #51 Ferrari AF Corse (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi)    +1.144secs    55 laps
6th    #5 Porsche Penske (Cameron/Christensen/Makowiecki)    +1.228secs    41 laps
    

       
Prologue Day 2 - Morning Session


1st    #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing    1min 48.473secs    71 laps
2nd    #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing    +0.008secs    93 laps
3rd    #5 Porsche Penske (Cameron/Christensen/Makowiecki)    +0.484secs    45 laps
4th    #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn/Westbrook)    +0.709secs    63 laps
5th    #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor)    +0.812secs    65 laps
6th    #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies (Duval/Menezes/Müller)    +0.829secs    58 laps


           
Prologue Day 2 - Afternoon Session

1st    #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing    1min 48.216secs    70 laps
2nd    #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing    +0.117secs    75 laps
3rd    #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn/Westbrook)    +0.674secs    53 laps
4th    #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen)    +1.084secs    58 laps
5th    #5 Porsche Penske (Cameron/Christensen/Makowiecki)    +1.500secs    71 laps
6th    #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor)    +1.640secs    48 laps

 

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing  also photos