What the LMP Drivers said after the 6 Hours of Fuji

Sebastien Buemi 

No8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS 050 HYBRID

“The few laps behind the Safety Car at the start were good and I think it was the right idea to start like this. The Full Course Yellow start is a great idea because we didn’t have too much spray. Kazuki did a great job today as he did most of the work so congratulations to the entire team.”

Kazuki Nakajima

No8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS 050 HYBRID

“It felt like forever when we were waiting when we had a red flag and in a way we were a little lucky to get the (red) flag and finish the race like that. We had good pace in the heavy wet conditions. Seb had a great start and I took over from him but it was difficult as we all had a different strategy and timing for the pit stops but I am happy with my job and the team so I’m glad we managed to win again here. It’s a great win for the team and I hope we can fightback for the championship.”

Anthony Davidson

No8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS 050 HYBRID

“Full credit to Kazuki and Seb today, particularly Kazuki in the race in such tough conditions. I did actually put my helmet on twice during the race but just never actually made it in to the car! That is just the way it goes and it is not the first time I have won this race without getting in the car.”

Kamui Kobayashi

No7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS 050 HYBRID

“Congratulations to the whole team for this result and particularly to car #8. I am really happy for everyone. We had struggled with our car this week but we found something before the race which worked quite well. We improved the car quite a lot throughout the race. The weather conditions were difficult, also for the fans, so thank to them for supporting us. I hope they enjoyed this result.”

Jose-Maria Lopez

No7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS 050 HYBRID

“The #8 guys did a fantastic job and deserved their win, but actually every driver did well because it was really tough out there. I want to thank the team for their big effort to improve after a difficult Saturday. Fuji is a very impressive event; it has been my first time to race here and now I can see why it’s so special. We will enjoy this result and look forward to the next one.”

Mike Conway

No7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS 050 HYBRID

“Well done to the car #8 guys; they did a fantastic job. It’s great to get a one-two at our home race and a nice reward for the team for all their hard work. On our car the team did really well to maximise what we had and get second. My stint was relatively short and it was tricky in tough conditions. I was fighting with the Porsche and we had good enough pace to stay in front.”

Andre Lotterer

No1 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid

“It was pretty tricky in the beginning and I lost a flick (dive-plane) on the first lap with a bit of contact and it didn’t help the downforce but mostly it was more difficult with our tyre choice where they started to heat up during the beginning but we always managed to catch up and it was a bit better.

“Then always something happened like the Safety Car came out when we were about to pass, so it was a bit the story of the race except in the middle where we couldn’t keep up with the Toyota’s when there was more rain. This is a difficult race to win for me since the start of the championship, although it got quite close in the end. A couple of laps more and it might have been a different story.”

Neel Jani

No1 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid

“For us it looked like when there was less rain we started to pick up the pace and when there was more water on the track we started to lose more pace. Also, whenever there was a restart we struggled to warm up the tyres but once we got going we got quicker and quicker. Unfortunately with the slow zones, safety cars and Full Course Yellows, which were the right calls, so we were hoping to the end the race would resume and we could have a shot at it (the victory).”

Nick Tandy

No1 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid

“It was a big challenge but it was quite up and down and when the conditions were too bad it was neutralised. It came down to who was on the right strategy when the Safety Car was deployed and when the red flags came out.  You had to try and make sure you were out and in front when the stoppages came but it was a good and fun race.”