DENSO sponsored Toyota Hypercar wraps up both WEC titles
Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa won the race in the number eight Toyota GR010 HYBRID, to secure their second successive drivers’ world championship. Sébastien and Brendon also set a new record of four drivers’ titles apiece, while Ryo has now won titles in both his seasons of Hypercar competition. A fine recovery drive, following a first-corner incident saw the number seven car of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López, battle its way to second, earning the drivers the runners-up spot in the championship.
TGR confirmed its fifth consecutive world championship double of manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles for the perfect end to an exciting season of Hypercar competition, that featured fierce challenges from Cadillac, Ferrari, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, Porsche and Vanwall. That challenge continued into the final race of the season, which began on a hot, sunny afternoon in Bahrain. Sébastien led from pole position, but the title challenge from the crew of the number seven car was derailed a few metres later when Mike was knocked out of second place at the first corner by one of the Cadillacs, dropping him to the back of the field.
Over the course of the WEC season, the TGR team and its two GR010 HYBRIDs won all but one of the races in the Hypercar category, which is an incredible achievement and shows the superiority of both the design and reliability of the car, as well as the organisational skills of the team and the pace of its drivers.
DENSO has been a long term partner of the TGR team for both the WEC and World Rally Championship competitions, with its reputation for manufacturing premium quality original equipment (OE) products for vehicle manufacturers globally, making it a perfect fit for both the team and the Toyota machines it runs in both championships.
These same parts are available to the independent service and repair sector through DENSO Aftermarket Europe, which ensures that world class OE replacement parts are available to motorists, so providing them with the reliability they seek, and the peace of mind they need.