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The Latest Breaking News from Ryo Hirakawa

The Top 10 SUPER GT/Super Formula drivers of 2023

Super Formula fans were treated to their best title battle in years after some one-sided contests in 2021 and '22, and while SUPER GT had a more turbulent year filled with red flags and incidents, the series still produced a championship battle that went down to the wire. This year's…

Motorsport

Toyota star Miyata gets dual F2, ELMS programme in 2024

Miyata has been offered a chance to race in Europe following a stellar domestic season in 2023 in which he became only the fifth driver to win titles in both Super Formula and SUPER GT in the same calendar year - and by far the youngest to do so.

Autosport

De Vries replaces Lopez in Toyota's WEC 2024 line-up

De Vries will share the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID with Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway for what will be his first full campaign in the WEC since he drove for the Racing Team Nederland LMP2 team in the 2019/20 season.

Autosport

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10 things we learned from the 2023 WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain

The Bahrain 8 Hours saw Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa enjoy an easy run from pole position to win the 2023 Hypercar title in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid. The sister #7 car shared by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, which came to the weekend…

Autosport

Hartley: Toyota put extra emphasis on qualifying for Bahrain WEC showdown

Brendon Hartley’s pole aboard the #8 GR010 HYBRID he shares with Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa means the trio now only have to finish third to seal the title even if the sister Le Mans Hypercar driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez wins the eight-hour race…

Autosport

WEC Bahrain: Hartley beats Toyota team-mate Kobayashi to pole

The extra point of the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar Hartley shares with Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa is significant in the championship battle between the two crews from the Japanese manufacturer.

Autosport

Five moments that swung Super Formula battle away from Lawson

But after an up-and-down campaign that yielded three wins in nine races but only one other visit to the podium, Lawson fell eight points shy of champion Ritomo Miyata in the end.

Autosport

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Miyata: Beating Lawson to Super Formula title could improve international prospects

TOM’S driver Miyata holds an eight-point lead over Lawson ahead of the final two races of the season this weekend, with defending two-time champion Tomoki Nojiri a further two points behind.

Autosport

Miyata: ‘I want to be able to say I’m faster than an F1 driver!’

TOM’S driver Miyata holds an eight-point lead over Lawson ahead of the final two races of the season this weekend, with defending two-time champion Tomoki Nojiri a further two points behind.

Motorsport

Miyata set for Super GT exit in favour of Lexus WEC seat

Miyata is expected to embark on a full campaign in the 2024 WEC as part of an anticipated factory-backed Lexus effort in the new LMGT3 class that will replace GTE Am.

Autosport

Toyota has shown it was right to stay in WEC in lean years - Kobayashi

The driver/team principal made the remarks following Toyota’s latest success at Fuji last month, as it sealed the manufacturers’ title with a round to spare thanks to a 1-2 finish with its pair of GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercars on home soil.

Motorsport

McLaren forging closer ties with Toyota as F1 rumours swirl

The Woking-based outfit recently ended a long-running deal it had to use Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne, as it shifted its programme to its own new facility in Woking.

Autosport

Toyota: Hirakawa's McLaren deal not precursor to F1 return

However, the former Williams driver left the door open by suggesting that the decision was valid "for now".

Motorsport

Nakajima: Hirakawa McLaren deal not precursor to Toyota F1 return

However, the former Williams driver left the door open by suggesting that the decision was valid "for now".

Autosport

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Autosport

10 things we learned from the 2023 WEC 6 Hours of Fuji

The World Endurance Championship's two-month summer break ended with its annual trip to Fuji, where Toyota continued an unbeaten stretch dating back to 2016 with a 1-2 finish. But the Japanese marque didn't have it as easy as the result on paper suggested, as Porsche emerged as GR010 HYBRID's closest…

Autosport

Toyota says Ferrari held back by driver inconsistency at WEC Fuji

The Japanese marque's technical director Pascal Vasselon made the comment after wrapping up the 2023 manufacturers' title with a 1-2 finish on home turf, having overcome a stiff challenge from Porsche.

Motorsport

Toyota says Ferrari held back by driver inconsistency at Fuji

Autosport

WEC Fuji: Toyota sees off Porsche challenge for victory

The #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez took the chequered flag 39 seconds clear of the sister #8 car shared by Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi, as the Japanese manufacturer celebrated its ninth WEC win at Fuji in 10 attempts.

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Motorsport

Fuji WEC: Toyota sees off Porsche challenge for victory

Motorsport

"Underestimated" Peugeot will be in the mix in Fuji WEC, say rivals

Peugeot notched up its first podium finish with the 9X8 in the last round at Monza, with Jean-Eric Vergne, Paul di Resta and Mikkel Jensen finishing third in the #93 car behind the winning Toyota and the second-placed Ferrari.

Motorsport

Kobayashi suggests he's ready to give up on Super Formula

Ex-Formula 1 driver Kobayashi enjoyed his strongest qualifying result of the season last weekend with sixth on the grid, and was promoted to fourth by the first-lap crash triggered by Liam Lawson's spin exiting Turn 2.

Motorsport

Motegi Super Formula: Nojiri wins, Lawson 13th after first-lap chaos

Red Bull junior Lawson spun on the opening lap after running wide at the exit of Turn 2 while battling with Nojiri for the lead, with Tadasuke Makino and Yuhi Sekiguchi both going airborne in the ensuing mayhem.

Motorsport

Engine disparities back on the agenda in Super Formula

For the first time this year, Honda-powered cars locked out the front row in Round 6, as Tadasuke Makino beat Liam Lawson to pole, but you had to go all the way down to fifth-place man Ritomo Miyata to find the first of the Toyota engine users.

Motorsport

Is it game over for Nojiri’s Super Formula ‘three-peat’ hopes?

Nojiri trailed home a disappointing eighth in Sunday’s sixth round of the season, 26 seconds behind Mugen team-mate and race winner Liam Lawson, marking his lowest finishing position since the second round of the 2020 season at Okayama.

Motorsport

Fuji Super Formula: Lawson charges to third win in six races

Starting second on the grid behind polesitter Tadasuke Makino, Lawson passed the Dandelion driver shortly after the pitstop phase to take the lead before marching to a comfortable 4.4s victory.

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