On the WEC’s first visit to Japan since 2019, Toyota’s pair of GR010 Hybrids were a cut above the opposition, finishing two laps ahead of the Alpine A480-Gibson shared by Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere.
Alpine’s grandfathered LMP1 car had taken a Balance of Performance hit, which led Negrao to conclude after Friday practice that the team had no hope of challenging Toyota and that third would be a satisfactory result in the circumstances.
