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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: Q&A With Nicolas Lapierre
Toyota Racing driver discusses outlook for tomorrow’s FIA WEC Six Hours of Sao Paulo...
Nicolas Lapierre, left, celebrates with co-driver and pole-sitter Alex Wurz, right. (Photo: Jakob Ebrey/LAT)
Toyota has made quite an impression in its first few races with the TS030 Hybrid. Fresh off a second place finish in last month’s round at Silverstone, the Japanese manufacturer claimed its first-ever pole in the FIA World Endurance Championship, in only its third attempt.
SPEED.com caught up with Nicolas Lapierre, who will share the No. 7 entry with pole-sitter Alex Wurz, to get his thoughts on their prospects in tomorrow's Six Hours of Sao Paulo.
DAGYS: What are the expectations heading into the race?
LAPIERRE: We know that the car is improving race after race. We have some new evolutions here. It's getting better. We know compared to the Audi, we have good pace. The question is about fuel consumption.
So we need to be faster than them because for sure, we'll need at least one more stop than them. We definitely need to have a better pace then them if we want to challenge them for the win.
DAGYS: Is there anything that can be learned from Silverstone in terms of strategy?
LAPIERRE: We saw at Le Mans that there was a small difference, 10 percent [more consumption than Audi]. But at Silverstone, it was more like 20 percent. Here, we expect it to be the same. It's quite difficult.
We are improving this, but the gap is so big that it will take time to recover. I'm not sure if we can recover it all because the diesel engine uses less fuel. This is completely impossible to match them.
DAGYS: What are your first impressions of Interlagos?
LAPIERRE: It's very challenging, very bumpy and [undulating]. It's my first time here so I had to learn it. It will be very challenging on Saturday during the race because the traffic is very tough.
The track is very narrow and twisty and you don't have any real straight line. Even the [front straight] in front of the pit is [curved] a bit. So with the GT cars going all over the place, it's not easy.
DAGYS: With regular co-pilot Kaz Nakajima not here this weekend (on Super GT duty), how has it been without a third driver?
LAPIERRE: It's better to only have two drivers [for a six-hour race]. You get more running time in the Free Practice and also during the race. You're more efficient with two drivers for sure.
DAGYS: Has there been any recent developments to the hybrid system?
LAPIERRE: It's pretty much the same. Updates will come for next year. We're pretty happy about our hybrid system. It's just a case of strategy. We need to learn where to use it in terms of lap time and also to help us with traffic. There is still some more strategy work to be done.
DAGYS: Do you feel like you may have a legitimate chance of the win?
LAPIERRE: We were close to it in Silverstone but it's not going to be easy for sure, but we will try out best. Anything can happen in the race, in the traffic and everything. Silverstone was pretty calm for the leading car with no issues.
But here, anything can happen. So we have to be ready and if there is an opportunity, we'll take it.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
SPEED.com caught up with Nicolas Lapierre, who will share the No. 7 entry with pole-sitter Alex Wurz, to get his thoughts on their prospects in tomorrow's Six Hours of Sao Paulo.
DAGYS: What are the expectations heading into the race?
LAPIERRE: We know that the car is improving race after race. We have some new evolutions here. It's getting better. We know compared to the Audi, we have good pace. The question is about fuel consumption.
So we need to be faster than them because for sure, we'll need at least one more stop than them. We definitely need to have a better pace then them if we want to challenge them for the win.
DAGYS: Is there anything that can be learned from Silverstone in terms of strategy?
LAPIERRE: We saw at Le Mans that there was a small difference, 10 percent [more consumption than Audi]. But at Silverstone, it was more like 20 percent. Here, we expect it to be the same. It's quite difficult.
We are improving this, but the gap is so big that it will take time to recover. I'm not sure if we can recover it all because the diesel engine uses less fuel. This is completely impossible to match them.
DAGYS: What are your first impressions of Interlagos?
LAPIERRE: It's very challenging, very bumpy and [undulating]. It's my first time here so I had to learn it. It will be very challenging on Saturday during the race because the traffic is very tough.
The track is very narrow and twisty and you don't have any real straight line. Even the [front straight] in front of the pit is [curved] a bit. So with the GT cars going all over the place, it's not easy.
DAGYS: With regular co-pilot Kaz Nakajima not here this weekend (on Super GT duty), how has it been without a third driver?
LAPIERRE: It's better to only have two drivers [for a six-hour race]. You get more running time in the Free Practice and also during the race. You're more efficient with two drivers for sure.
DAGYS: Has there been any recent developments to the hybrid system?
LAPIERRE: It's pretty much the same. Updates will come for next year. We're pretty happy about our hybrid system. It's just a case of strategy. We need to learn where to use it in terms of lap time and also to help us with traffic. There is still some more strategy work to be done.
DAGYS: Do you feel like you may have a legitimate chance of the win?
LAPIERRE: We were close to it in Silverstone but it's not going to be easy for sure, but we will try out best. Anything can happen in the race, in the traffic and everything. Silverstone was pretty calm for the leading car with no issues.
But here, anything can happen. So we have to be ready and if there is an opportunity, we'll take it.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa
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