FIA WEC S9 - Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

It's the dawn of the new era in the FIA World Endurance Championship as the ninth season introduces the brand new top-tier Hypercar category, which is the successor to the successful LMP1 category. The defending champions, Toyota Gazoo Racing, kickstarted the Hypercar era with their new entry, the GR010 Hybrid, with Alpine promoted to the Hypercar class after their last LMP2 campaign and others joining the Hypercar craze.

The dawn of the new WEC era kicked off at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps for the TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps endurance race. Following the retirement of both Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR cars in the LMGTE Am category, the grid now consists of 33 drivers with the #7 GR010 Hybrid leading the grid and the action begins.

Two hours have passed and the #36 Alpine ELF Matmut is leading the race after overtaking the #7 GR010 and the struggle continues. Behind them, there's plenty of action going on with the other classes. Hour four and the #7 GR010's back to the lead but as the climax draws near, it's all over for the #7 after a sudden crash out of the track.

Screengrab from WEC

In the end, after six hours of intense endurance action, the #8 GR010 Hybrid draws the first blood with its first Hypercar class win with Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, and Brendon Hartley behind the wheel. The #22 United Autosports USA, meanwhile, wins the LMP2 class, the #92 Porsche 911 RSR for the LMGTE Pro, and the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE for the LMGTE Am.

Toyota nailed their first Hypercar win at the season opener but will they keep up? Find out as the next race of the FIA World Endurance Championship Season 9 will be at Portimao for the first-ever 8 Hours of Portimao on the 13th of June, 2021.