TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WEC HISTORY

2012“Winning two races in second half of its return season,as Kazuki Nakajima gets first champagne shower for a Japanese driver in 20 years”

TS030 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2012 season.

TS030 HYBRID #07Alex Wurz/Nicolas Lapierre/Kazuki Nakajima

6 Race / 3 Win / 3 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 5th / Race Retire

TS030 HYBRID #08Stéphane Sarrazin/Anthony Davidson/Sébastien Buemi

1 Race / 0 Win / 0 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 3rd / Race Retire

  • Shook-down the TS030 HYBRID for returning to WEC in 2012 with drivers: Nicolas Lapierre, Alex Wurz and Kazuki Nakajima. The car body was painted in red and white at that time.
  • Two TS030 HYBRIDs competed in the 24 Hours of LeMans 2012 season. Nicolas Lapierre, Alex Wurz and Kazuki Nakajima drove the car number 7 while Sébastien Buemi, Stéphane Sarrazin and Anthony Davidson drove the car number 8.
  • TS030 HYBRID won its first victory at the 6 Hours of São Paulo, round 5 of WEC 2012 season.
  • TS030 HYBRID made its second victory at the 6 Hours of Fuji, round 6 of WEC 2012 season. The winning car was driven by Kazuki Nakajima, and he became the first Japanese winning a victory at a FIA championship in 20 years.

This is the year that TOYOTA returned to WEC with a hybrid car named the TS030 HYBRID, mounting a revolutionary hybrid drive system. In its first entry in the third round of the season, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, TOYOTA entered two cars, No. 7 driven be Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima, and No. 8 driven by Stephane Sarrazin, Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi. Despite having run within reach of the lead in the early stages of the race, both cars eventually had collisions with other competitors leading to crashes that forced them to retire from the race. After Round 4 of the series at Silverstone, only car No. 7 (Alex Wurz/Nicolas Lapierre) competed. At Round 5 in Sao Paulo, the TOYOTA car took pole position and went on from there to give the TOYOTA team its first WEC victory in 20 years. In Round 7 at Fuji Speedway, of the Car No. 7 drivers (Alex Wurz/Nicolas Lapierre/Kazuki Nakajima), it was Nakajima who won the team pole position. And after a tough defensive struggle on their home circuit, No. 7 took the win. With this, Nakajima became the first Japanese driver to win a WEC race in 20 years. Then in Round 8 in Shanghai, it was another pole-to-victory triumph for TOYOTA.

2013“Two TS030 HYBRIDs compete the whole series,Taking two victories, including a second straight win at Fuji”

TS030 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2013 season.

TS030 HYBRID #07Alex Wurz/Nicolas Lapierre/Kazuki Nakajima

6 Race / 1 Win / 3 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 5th / Race 4th

TS030 HYBRID #08Anthony Davidson/Stéphane Sarrazin/Sébastien Buemi

8 Race / 1 Win / 0 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 4th / Race 2nd

  • Start of the 6 hours of Silverstone, opening round of WEC 2013 season.
  • The TS030 HYBRID car number 8, driven by Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin, won the second prize to the 24 hours of LeMans, 2013 season.
  • The TS030 HYBRID car number 8 driven by Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin competed in the 24 hours of LeMans 2013 season.
  • TS030 HYBRID car number 8 driven by Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin won the the 6 hours of Bahrain, the final round of WEC 2013 season.

In this year, where two TS030 HYBRIDs compete the entire series, car No. 7 (Alex Wurz/Nicolas Lapierre) took pole position in the opening round at Silverstone. In the race, car No. 8 (Anthony Davidson/Stephane Sarrazin/Sébastien Buemi) finished in 3rd place. Round 3, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was a tumultuous race with 11 Safety Car interventions, and in the end car No. 8 (Anthony Davidson/Stephane Sarrazin/Sébastien Buemi) took a podium finish with 2nd place, while car No. 7 (Alex Wurz/Nicolas Lapierre/Kazuki Nakajima) finished strongly in 4th place. Round 5 in Sao Paulo saw car No. 8 finish in 2nd place again. In Round 6 at Fuji, bad weather forced an early end to the race, but car No. 7 (Alex Wurz/Nicolas Lapierre/Kazuki Nakajima) managed to take another consecutive win. At Round 7 in Shanghai. Car No. 7 went from pole position to finish the race in 2nd place. At Round 8 in Bahrain, car No. 7 (Alex Wurz/Nicolas Lapierre) took its second consecutive pole position. In the race, car No. 7 had to retire from the race, but No. 8 won this last race of the season.

2014“The new TS040 HYBRID is introducedFive victories in the year bring double titles”

TS040 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2014 season.

TS040 HYBRID #07Alex Wurz/Stéphane Sarrazin/Kazuki Nakajima

8 Race / 1 Win / 2 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 1st / Race Retire

TS040 HYBRID #08Anthony Davidson/Nicolas Lapierre/Sébastien Buemi

8 Race / 4 Win / 2 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 3rd / Race 3rd

  • TS040 HYBRID won the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps, round 2 of WEC 2014 season, and claimed victories two rounds in a row.
  • Kazuki Nakajima became the first ever Japanese who acquired pole position at the 24 hours of LeMans.
  • TS040 HYBRIDs claimed one-two finish at the 6 Hours of Fuji, round 5 of WEC 2014 season, and won at home three years in a row.
  • Toyota became the first Japanese car manufacturer winning the makers' title of WEC in 2014.

This year, the TOYOTA team competed WEC with two TS040 HYBRID car with engines delivering roughly 1,000 hp. In the opening round of the series at Silverstone, car No. 8 (Anthony Davidson/Nicolas Lapierre/Sébastien Buemi) won the race, while the pole-starting car No. 7 (Alex Wurz/Stephane Sarrazin/Kazuki Nakajima) finished 2nd to give the team a 1-2 sweep. Round 2 was also won by car No. 8. Next, in Round 3, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nakajima in car No. 7 became the first Japanese driver to win pole position. Car No. 7 continued to run in the lead for the first 14 hours before finally being forced to retire from the race. Car No. 8 got its second consecutive podium finish at Le Mans by finishing in 3rd place. Then, in round 5 at Fuji, car No. 8 scored a pole-to-goal win for a third consecutive victory at its home race. Car No. 7 also came home in 2nd place to give TOYOTA its second 1-2 finish of the season. At the following Round 6 in Shanghai, car No. 8 and No. 7 scored their second consecutive 1-2 victory in that order. At Round 7 in Bahrain, car No. 7 was the winner. And in the final round in Sao Paulo car No. 8 easily took 2nd place to give TOYOTA the first-ever WEC Manufacturer's title for a Japanese manufacturer. What's more the car No. 8 driver pair of Davidson and Sebastien won the Drivers title.

2015“The first season without a win since returning to WECTop finishes are two 3rd places”

TS040 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2015 season.

TS040 HYBRID #01Anthony Davidson/Sébastien Buemi/Kazuki Nakajima

8 Race / 0 Win / 0 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 8th / Race 8th

TS040 HYBRID #02Alex Wurz/Stéphane Sarrazin/Mike Conway

8 Race / 0 Win / 0 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 7th / Race 6th

  • Becoming the champion in the former season, TS040 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2015 season as car number 1.
  • WEC 2015 season was a tough year. Although two TS040 HYBRIDs competed in the 24 Hours of LeMans proved their stable performance, they could not catch up the pace of rival cars.
  • Finished in 4th at the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, round 5 of WEC 2015 season, which was the best result of the year.
  • TS040 HYBRID competed in the 6 Hours of Shanghai, round 7 of WEC 2015 season.

As with the previous season, this year was competed with two TS040 HYBRIDs in search of consecutive titles and a first victory at Le Mans, but the result was a tough year. In the opening round at Silverstone, car No. 1 (Anthony Davidson/Sébastien Buemi/Kazuki Nakajima) took 3rd place for a podium finish, but in Round 2 at Spa, there was no podium as car No. 2 finished 5th. In Round 3, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, car No. 2 (Alex Wurz/Stephane Sarrazin/Mike Conway) qualified in 7th position and finished the race in 6th. Car No. 1 started from 8th position on the grid but dropped to 9th position after a collision with another car before rallying back to finish a still disappointing 8th. After this there were more races where the TOYOTA teams failed to reach the podium. In Round 6 at Fuji, it was a hard race with rain, as there had been the year before, and car No. 1 placed 5th while car No. 2 placed 6th to end the teams' three-year winning streak at their home race. Still, at the final round in Bahrain, car No. 2 managed to get the first podium finish since Round 1 by finishing 3rd. And it was to be this season that Wurz ended his WEC career as a racing driver at the coming January's race.

2016“Despair after coming so close to a first Le Mans Victory ...The No. 6 TS050 HYBRID takes 2nd for a podium finish”

TS050 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2016 season.

TS050 HYBRID #05Kazuki Nakajima/Anthony Davidson/Sébastien Buemi

9 Race / 0 Win / 0 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 4th / Race NC

TS050 HYBRID #06Kamui Kobayashi/Stéphane Sarrazin/Mike Conway

9 Race / 1 Win / 0 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 3rd / Race 2nd

  • The two TS050 HYBRIDs resulted third and fourth respectively on the grid in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2016 season qualifying.
  • In the 24 Hours of LeMans 2016 season race final, two TS050 HYBRID competed for the top from beginning. Car number 5, however, stopped at almost finish of the race and, unfortunately couldn't claim its first victory.
  • Start of the 6 Hours of Fuji, round 7 of WEC 2016 season.
  • TS050 HYBRID car number 6 driven by Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi won the 6 Hours of Fuji, round 7 of WEC 2016 season. This was the first victory of the season, and the difference was only 1.4 second against the rival car.

After their tough season the previous year, TOYOTA entered two new TS050 HYBRID cars. In this season, the first objective was Round 3, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After Wurz's retirement, the new driver team for car No. 5 was Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, while Kamui Kobayashi joined the car No. 6 team of Stephane Sarrazin and Mike Conway. In the Le Mans qualifying, car No. 6 finished in 3rd position while car No. 5 took 4th position, but in the race these two would lead throughout. Even after the 23-hour mark, car No. 5 continued to run in the lead, while car No. 6 held 3rd place. It looked as if victory would finally be theirs, but just 5 minutes before the finish car No. 5 began to lose speed on the last straight and came to a stop. It did manage to get started again but was unable to run the last lap within the required 6-minute limit and was disqualified as a result. Even though car No. 6 was able to finish 2nd, there were no smiles in the TOYOTA camp. After this car No. 6 would go on to take 3rd place twice at Round 5 in Mexico and Round 6 in the U.S.A. At Fuji in Round 7, they were able to avenge their defeat at their home circuit the previous year. Then at Round 8 in Shanghai car No. 6 took 2nd place and car No. 5 finished 3rd for a double podium finish.

2017“Car No. 8 takes most season wins at 5 rounds out of 9Though missing out on Drivers title”

TS050 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2017 season.

TS050 HYBRID #07Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/José María López
(24 Hours of Le Mans : Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Stéphane Sarrazin)

9 Race / 0 Win / 4 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 1st / Race Retire

TS050 HYBRID #08Sébastien Buemi/Anthony Davidson/Kazuki Nakajima

9 Race / 5 Win / 0 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 2nd / Race 8th

TS050 HYBRID #09Stéphane Sarrazin/Yuji Kunimoto/Nicolas Lapierre
(24 Hours of Le Mans : Nicolas Lapierre/Yuji Kunimoto/José María López)

2 Race / 0 Win / 0 PP

LeMans 24h

Qualify 5th / Race Retire

  • TS050 HYBRID car number 8 driven by Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima won the 6 hours of Sirverstone, opening round of WEC 2017 season.
  • Three TS050 HYBRIDs competed in the 24 hours of LeMans 2017 season.
  • Although suffered from rain and fog, Toyota claimed one-two finish at the 6 hours of Fuji, round 7 of WEC 2017 season.
  • TS050 HYBRID driven by Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima won the 6 hours of Bahrain, final round of WEC 2017 season.

This year's further improved TS050 HYBRID was one that the drivers would feel they could win both Le Mans and the season title with. And as if to prove that potential, they won both in the opening round at Silverstone and Round 2 at Spa in succession. What's more, at Spa the TOYOTA cars got a confidence-building 1-2 finish to prepare them to take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Round 3. In the Le Mans qualifying, it was Kobayashi in car No. 7 (Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Stephane Sarrazin) that won pole position with a circuit record. And car No. 8 (Sébastien Buemi/Anthony Davidson/Kazuki Nakajima) qualified 2nd to put both cars on the front row. A third TS050 HYBRID was entered for this race only, car No. 9 (Nicolas Lapierre/Yuji Kunimoto/José María López), which also qualified in 5th position. In the race, it was car No. 7 that led in the first half, but it came to a stop after that with machine trouble. Car No. 9 suffered a collision with another car and had to retire from the race. As for car No. 8, it also suffered trouble that kept it in the pit for an extended time before eventually finishing in 8th place. Once again, the Le Mans effort ended in disappointment for the Toyota team. Although car No. 8 would go on to win three races in a row from Round 7 at Fuji and finished the season with the most wins of any team, at five, in the Drivers title race they had to settle for 2nd place.

2018-2019“The First Le Mans Victory for a Japanese Car!Constructors title plus Drivers title for Nakajima and teammates ”

TS050 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2018-2019 season.

TS050 HYBRID #07Kamui Kobayashi/Mike Conway/José María López

8 Race / 2 Win / 5 PP

LeMans 24h (2018)

Qualify 2nd / Race 2nd

LeMans 24h (2019)

Qualify 1st / Race 2nd

TS050 HYBRID #08Kazuki Nakajima/Sébastien Buemi/Fernando Alonso

8 Race / 5 Win / 3 PP

LeMans 24h (2018)

Qualify 1st / Race 1st

LeMans 24h (2019)

Qualify 2nd / Race 1st

  • TS050 HYBRIDs claimed one-two finish at the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps, opening round of WEC 2018-2019 super season.
  • TS050 HYBRID car number 8 driven by Kazuki Nakajima, Sébastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso won a long-cherished first victory at the 24 Hours of LeMans, round 2 of WEC 2018-2019 super season.
  • 1000 Miles of Sebring was calendared as the round6 of WEC 2018-2019 super season.
  • TS050 HYBRID car number 8 driven by Kazuki Nakajima, Sébastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso consecutively won the 24 Hours of LeMans and claimed drivers' title of the season.

From 2018, the WEC series ran as a Super Season spanning more than a year, starting with the opening round in May at Spa and running until Round 8 at Le Mans in June of 2019. The new, more highly developed TS050 HYBRID now had a driver team of Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima plus the former F1 world champion Fernando Alonso for car No. 8. In the series opener, this car No. 8 and car No. 7 (Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/José María López) scored a 1-2 finish. In the following Round 2, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was Kazuki Nakajima who won pole position for car No. 8. In the race, the two TS050 HYBRID cars competed for the lead. They went on that way to another 1-2 finish with car No. 7 claiming their first victory at Le Mans. Car No. 7 continued its winning streak in Round 4 at Fuji and Round 5 at Shanghai. Then car No. 8 won in Round 6 at Sebring and Round 7 at Spa, giving the TOYOTA team four straight wins. Then came the final round of the series at Le Mans. The perfect display of speed continued here, with Kamui Kobayashi in car No. 7 winning a third straight pole position for the Toyota team.
With a puncture in the late going, car No. 7 dropped to 2nd place, giving car No. 8 a come-from-behind win. It was the first time for a Japanese car by Toyota and for a Japanese driver, Nakajima, to win Le Mans two consecutive years. Along with the Constructors title there was also a Drivers title for Nakajima and his two teammates.

2019-2020“Last stage for the TS050 HYBRIDA promising 1-2 finish in the opening round”

TS050 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2019-2020 season.

TS050 HYBRID #07Kamui Kobayashi/Mike Conway/José María López

8 Race / 4 Win / 3 PP

LeMans 24h (2020)

Qualify 1st / Hyperpole 1st / Race 3rd

TS050 HYBRID #08Kazuki Nakajima/Sébastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley

8 Race / 2 Win / 1 PP

LeMans 24h (2020)

Qualify 2nd / Hyperpole 3rd / Race 1st

  • TS050 HYBRIDs claimed one-two finish at 4 hours of Silverstone, opening round of WEC 2019-2020 super season.
  • TS050 HYBRID car number 7 acquired pole position at the 24 Hours of LeMans round7 of WEC 2019-2020 super season. This event was held with no spectator.
  • By wining the 24 Hours of LeMans, round 7 of WEC 2019-2020 super season, TS050 HYBRID driven by Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley,achieved three consecutive wins at the 24 Hours of LeMans.
  • Toyota Gazoo Racing won the drives' title and teams' title of WEC 2019-2020 season.

Again in 2019, the 8-round WEC series would begin at Silverstone in September and end with the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June 2020 *. Due to the plans to adopt a new technical regulation for the cars in the 2021 season, 2019-2020 would be the last series of competition for the TS050 HYBRID. Despite regulation revisions that made the TS050 99 kg heavier than the rival cars, car No. 7 (Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/José María López) won pole position for the opening round. In the race, despite tough competition from car No. 8 (Sébastien Buemi/Kazuki Nakajima/Brendon Hartley) and unstable weather, car No. 7 ran from pole position to victory. Car No. 8 also struggled with trouble along the way but eventually managed to finish in a very respectable 2nd place.

In Round 2 at the home circuit of Fuji, it was car No. 8 that won the race from pole position. Car No. 7 started from 2nd position on the grid to finish 2nd in the race, thus giving Toyota its second consecutive 1-2 finish of the series. Round 3 proved tough for the Toyota cars due to stiff Success Handicaps, and in the qualifying car No. 7 finished in 4th position while No. 8 finished in 5th. But in the race, No. 8 finished in 2nd place and No. 7 followed in 3rd. Then, in Round 4 at Bahrain, Car No. 8 and No. 7 began the race from the second row of the starting grid, but in a brilliant race, No. 7 managed to grab the win, with No. 8 following in 2nd place for another 1-2 win.

Entering 2020, Round 5 was held in February as the Lone Star Le Mans (USA), and in it, car No. 8 and No. 7 both managed podium finishes in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. After that, however, the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) causes the ensuing schedule had to be altered. When Round 6 was finally held at Spa-Francorchamps in august, car No. 7 won the race, followed by No. 8 in 2nd to bring the team its fourth 1-2 finish of the season.

For the following Round 7 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the team finally free of its difficult Success Handicaps, Kobayashi in car No. 7 won pole position. In the race as well, No. 7 led for the first 12 hours, after which it suffered machine trouble and an approx. 30-minute pit stop for repairs. Returning to the race after that, No. 7 managed to fight back to finish the race in 3rd place. Meanwhile, car No. 8 had taken over the lead and ran on to win the race and bring TOYOTA GAZOO Racing its third consecutive win at Le Mans and the 2019-2020 season Team championship title as well. Then in the final round at Bahrain, car No. 7 won the race from pole position, thus bringing the series Drivers championship title to the team of Conway, Kobayashi and Lopez. In this race car No. 8 finished 2nd to end the season for the TS050 HYBRID with its fifth 1-2 finish of the series and pave the way for the Toyota "hypercar" that will compete in the 2021 season.

*This schedule was subsequently altered to run from March to August 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

2021“Starting the New Hypercar Class Era GR010 HYBRID Sweeps Series for Double Titles”

GR010 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2021 season.

GR010 HYBRID #07Kamui Kobayashi/Mike Conway/José María López

6 Race / 3 Win / 4 PP

LeMans 24h (2021)

Qualify 1st / Hyperpole 1st / Race 1st

GR010 HYBRID #08Kazuki Nakajima/Sébastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley

6 Race / 3 Win / 1 PP

LeMans 24h (2021)

Qualify 3rd / Hyperpole 2nd / Race 2nd

  • GR010 HYBRID that participated in the WEC 2021 season hypercar class
  • WEC 2021 Season Round 4 Le Mans 24-hour Race Start Scene
  • WEC 2021 season GR010 HYBRID No. 7 which won the long-cherished victory in Le Mans 24 hours
  • WEC 2021 season TGR driver Kazuki Nakajima who graced the final race in the last race

The opening round of the series was the 6 Hours of Spa. There were two GR010 HYBRID cars entered in the newly established Hypercar Class, and Kamui Kobayashi won pole position in car No. 7. In the race, car No. 8 (drivers by Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley) outran car No. 7 (Mike Conway, Kobayashi and José María López) and the other rivals to win the race. Car No. 7 finished in 3rd place. The next round, the 8 Hours of Portimao, marked the 100th race for Toyota in WEC. Here again, it was car No. 8 that won the race (the 32nd win for TGR), while car No. 7 finished 2nd. In Round 3, the 6 Hours of Monza, a close battle for the lead raged between the two GR010 HYBRID cars in the early stages, but car No. 8 developed machine trouble and fell back, while No. 7 ran on to a victory. Car No. 8 eventually finished the race in 33rd place.

Next came the 24 Hours of Le Mans. While the 2020 race had been held without spectators as a COVID-19 countermeasure, this year a crowd of fans limited to 50,000 came to see the race. Driving car No. 7, Kobayashi won pole position, and in the race as well it was No. 7 that led most of the way. After overcoming machine trouble, No. 7 went on to get a much longed-for victory. As for car No. 8, after being hit by another car just after the start, it recovered enough ground to battle with No. 7 for the lead. In the second half of the race, however, it also suffered trouble but hung on to finish in 2nd place.

The next round was the 6 Hours of Bahrain, where once again the two GR010 HYBRID cars battled for the lead, with No. 7 emerging to get its third win of the series. Car No. 8 finished 2nd, which meant that without waiting for the final round, this clinched the team title for TGR. The sixth and final round of the series was the 8 Hours of Bahrain. Here, the two GR010 HYBRID, No. 8 and No. 7, finished 1-2 respectively. In this race, his last with the TGR team, Nakajima rose to the occasion with a victory, while No. 7’s Kobayashi, Conway, and López carried away the first Drivers Champion title in the new Hypercar class.

2022“Year two of GR010 HYBRID
Four wins in six races to claim back-to-back Hypercars titles”

GR010 HYBRID competed in the WEC 2022 season.

GR010 HYBRID #07Kamui Kobayashi/Mike Conway/José María López

6 Race / 2 Win / 1 PP

LeMans 24h (2022)

Qualify 1st / Hyperpole 2nd / Race 2nd

GR010 HYBRID #08Sébastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa

6 Race / 2 Win / 2 PP

LeMans 24h (2022)

Qualify 29th / Hyperpole 1st / Race 1st

  • Sebastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley take the checkered flag at the 3rd round of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
  • Car No. 7 achieves its second win of the season at the final round (Round 6) of the 8 Hours of Bahrain.
  • Achieved a 1-2 finish for the second time in the season at Fuji, which was held for the first time in three years.
  • 4シーズン連続でのダブルタイトルを手にしたTOYOTA GAZOO Racing

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing's 2022 season began with the goal of winning back-to-back WEC championship titles. Two GR010 HYBRIDs modified according to the regulations competed in the Hypercar class. For the first time in three years, the season opener was the Sebring 1,000 Mile. While the No. 7 car drivers were a steadfast three of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose María Lopez, Ryo Hirakawa was newly added to drive the No. 8 car. He ran his first race with Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley as teammates. In that race, car No. 7 had to drop out. However, car No. 8 went from fourth in qualifying to a 2nd-place podium finish. The second round was the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. In the rain, car No. 8 retired from the race early due to machine trouble, but car No. 7, which had been 3rd in the qualifying, endured two Red Flag interruptions and unstable so-called "spa weather" to win a close race and take its first victory of the season.

At the third round, the 24 Hours of Le Mans celebrated its 90th anniversary event. As a team, GAZOO Racing was out to win their fifth consecutive title. In the qualifying, the previous year's winner, car No. 7, took the provisional pole position. In the next day’s Hyperpole, Hartley in the No. 8 car recorded the top time by a close margin. The team took pole position for the sixth year in a row, and the No. 7 car followed in second position. In the race, the GAZOO Racing cars continued to run in a 1-2 lead with car No. 7 in front, as the two cars battled consistently for the lead. In the second half of the race, car No. 7 suffered machine trouble and lost the lead, but both cars went on to dominate the 24 hours. Car No. 8 took the checkered flag first, for its second win of the season in the team’s 1-2 finish.

The fourth round of the series was the 6 Hours of Monza, which saw a fierce battle for the lead due to a number of accidents. Car No. 8 finished on the podium in 2nd place, and car No. 7 took 3rd place. Round 5 was held at Fuji Speedway for the first time in three years as a 6-hour race. In the qualifying, Kobayashi in car No. 7 took pole position for the first time on the team’s "home course" in the Hypercar class. Car No. 8 followed in 2nd position. Car No. 8 took the lead early in the race and the GAZOO Racing cars went on to a 1-2 finish for the second time in the season. It was the team’s fifth consecutive win at Fuji.

In the final round (Round 6), the 8 Hours of Bahrain, the No. 8 car took pole position in the qualifying for the second time in the season. In the race, car No. 7 came from 3rd position in the qualifying to take the lead just before the mid-point in the race and went on to win its second race of the season. This final race was again won by GAZOO Racing team in a 1-2 finish for the third time in the season, thus giving car No. 8’s drivers Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa, the Drivers Championship title and TGR the Manufacturer’s Championship title for the fourth consecutive season.