WEC: Nyck de Vries (P11) struggles in Spa: Fast corners remain a problem for Toyota

The #7 Toyota of Nyck de Vries starts the six hours of Spa-Francorchamps in twelfth position. RaceXpress.nl is in Spa and spoke with the Dutchman. The final showdown before the 24 hours of Le Mans raises more questions than answers for De Vries.

Photo: Fedor Eskes

Toyota started the WEC season strongly in Imola. The #8 car secured the victory, while the #7 with De Vries on board finished third.

In Spa-Francorchamps, things are different for the Japanese. Peugeot scored a surprising pole position on the seven-kilometer asphalt ribbon through the Belgian Ardennes. The Toyotas had a difficult session on Friday.

The car of De Vries, Mike Conway, and Kamui Kobayashi recorded the eleventh fastest time, while the winners of Imola had to settle for P16.

De Vries therefore puts an asterisk on Toyota's performance in Imola. The performance in Spa-Francorchamps is a more important benchmark for Le Mans than Imola, which he considers 'a strange duck in the pond'. "It's the final dress rehearsal," Nyck de Vries began to RaceXpress.nl. "I think the circuit, at least in terms of characteristics, is closer to Le Mans than Imola. So it's definitely an important weekend for us to see where we stand compared to our competition."

The driver from Uitwellingerga responded cautiously to the question of the overall feeling in the revamped TR010. “The feeling here in Spa...” He takes a short pause. “Good, but we always have areas where we can improve. Fast corners. We have room for improvements there." Watch the full interview with Nyck de Vries below: