The Latest Breaking News from Antonio Fuoco

The Italian manufacturer has revealed it already knew its 499P Le Mans Hypercar would be unable to match the race pace of the Toyota LMHs that ended up finishing 1-2 before the start of the 1000-mile fixture.

Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway won the opening round of the 2023 WEC season in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, leading the sister #8 car crewed by Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa by just over two seconds.

Antonio Fuoco set what turned out to be the benchmark time of 1m45.067s at the wheel of the quicker of the two brand-new Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercars, which are making their race debut this weekend.

Kamui Kobayashi set a blistering time of 1m45.783s in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID to lead a one-two finish for the Japanese marque ahead of Thursday’s afternoon qualifying for the Sebring 1000 Miles.

Toyota is set to face its sternest test in the World Endurance Championship this year since the Hypercar class replaced LMP1 in 2021.

The Japanese manufacturer was fastest in three of the testing periods totalling 12 and half hours of track time, with Jose Maria Lopez’s 1m48.208s aboard the #7 entry from the opening period on Saturday morning standing as the best of the weekend.

Nick Tandy and the Porsche Penske Motorsports broke the Meyer Shank Racing Acura stranglehold on the Roar Before the 24 at Daytona, but only 27 of the 61 starters actually participated in the wet night session.

Despite its gearbox falling apart, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado managed to reach the finish of the World Endurance Championship's Bahrain 8 Hours as the fifth classified GTE runner, doing enough to secure the drivers' and manufacturers' GT titles in the swansong for the GTE Pro division. Here's how…

Jose Maria Lopez set the pace for Toyota as a number of newcomers tested Hypercar machinery in the FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test in Bahrain.