Toyota’s Nyck de Vries believes people focus too much on qualifying the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Dutchman told Motorsport Week.
He qualified his #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid 16th in yesterday’s qualifying, meaning he missed out on getting into the top 15 for Hyperpole by one position, with the #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie of Marco Sorensen beating him by just under two tenths.
“It amazes me how much focus everyone puts on qualifying when the race lasts 24 hours,” said the 30-year-old.
“Informally, you can start last in a shorter race and still finish top 5. The hype around qualifying is understandable, but I don’t think it compromises the race.
“What really matters is pace—if you’re not quick, you’ll end up at the back anyway. Not going to Hyperpole could even be an advantage,” he said.
And why could that be an advantage? By being towards the back, maybe you stay out of any lap 1 trouble.
“[Starting towards the back] is not really a disadvantage if you have pace”, he told Motorsport Week.
“Starting in the top 10 is important… Honestly, starting in the middle is worse. When you’re at the back, you can at least see the issues ahead.”
Does it sound like the Dutchman is trying to justify a mediocre qualifying performance? Maybe. But, Toyota have struggled in qualifying this year anyway in the FIA World Endurance Championship, yet they are always there or thereabouts in races.
Indeed, in the three races this year, and six attempts to get into Hyperpole — three for each car — Toyota has only got into Hyperpole three times. The #7 car has only managed it twice, at Losail in Qatar and at Imola, when both Toyotas got into Hyperpole and eventually qualified fourth and sixth. At Spa the #8 car made Hyperpole, but the #7 could only manage 16th.
Toyota ‘not comfortable’ on race pace, says de Vries
In contrast to what de Vries’ teammate Mike Conway said Motorsport Week the day before, the Dutchman believes Toyota isn’t quite up there with the top cars at the moment.
“Right now, we don’t feel quick enough and aren’t comfortable,” said de Vries.
“Nobody really ever is. It’s hard to get an exact measure versus competition because of different run plans, fuel loads, tyres, and traffic. But we do feel we’re missing some pace compared to the top cars.”
Where that lack of pace is coming from, though, the Dutchman would not expand. But, looking at the mini sectors from the timing data from the first practice session, Toyota appear to struggle for ultimate top speed, and in high speed corners. Medium and low speed is where the car excels.
This largely lines up with Conway’s assessment. His feeeling was Porsche were strongest in a straight line and Cadillac in the high speed corners.
Tyre management through the race, making the rubber last for multiple stints, will be key too.
“Temperatures have been good so far,” said de Vries when asked about tyre warmup.
“The medium tyres are tougher. The biggest challenge is warming up tyres during a second stint if there’s a full course yellow or slow zone—there’s less rubber on the tyres then, making warm-up harder. But it’s manageable once you understand that less rubber means less movement and harder heating,” he concluded.
The #7 Toyota, likely with Conway starting the race as he has done in previous rounds, will start 16th. Conway and de Vries, plus their teammate — and Toyota team principal — Kamui Kobayashi will need to climb through the field if they want to contend for the win.
