Shock, sensational, spectacular. All those words correctly described Ferrari’s pole position with its 499P Le Mans Hypercar at start of the new era for the World Endurance Championship at the Sebring 1000 Miles. Yet come Friday’s race it was Toyota who were on top. That the Japanese cars were just too good for those from its Italian rival, as well Cadillac, Porsche and Peugeot, was not a surprise.
Toyota, as the incumbent force in the WEC and the winner of the drivers’ and manufacturers’ title doubles four years in a row, had reinforced its status as pre-season favourite through the Prologue test the weekend ahead of race week and then during practice. Only in one of the seven sessions of testing and practice was the GR010 HYBRID LMH beaten in the times. And in the race, Toyota sat pretty at the top of the leaderboard for all but 10 of the 239 laps on the way to a 1-2 victory, two laps up on the best of the Ferraris.
