If Toyota wasn’t already favourite to make it six Le Mans 24 Hours victories in a row in June, it was after the first two rounds of the 2023 World Endurance Championship. The Japanese manufacturer may be up against a level of opposition far beyond what it faced on the way to wins number one to five, but on the evidence of Sebring and Algarve it’s way out ahead. It trounced its rivals both times.
The two-lap margin of victory over eight hours at Sebring and the one lap over six at Portimão suggested that its factory rivals, Ferrari, Porsche, Peugeot and Cadillac, have a mountain to climb to get on terms before the centenary running of the double-points Le Mans WEC round on June 10-11. While there could be no surprise that Toyota’s GR010 Hybrid Le Mans Hypercar was in the ascendancy, should it have come as a shock that it is so far
