After a costly non-score at the Le Mans 24 Hours, the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID of Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi recorded its third win of the season on Ferrari’s home turf.
First corner contact that delayed the leading Toyota and Ferrari protagonists in the world championship aided Peugeot in its bid for a first podium finish of the 9X8 programme, while Proton Competition became the second customer squad to run a Porsche 963 LMDh and even led for a time before retirement.
A return for the WEC’s tyre warmer ban became a moot point in Italy amid hot conditions that made managing tyre wear a stern test, while another crucial factor to navigate was the timing of pitstops around the three safety cars that interrupted an eventful six-hour contest.
That contributed to Jota Sport ending its LMP2 podium drought with a victory and Corvette Racing missing out on the GTE Am podium for the first time all season – although Nicky Catsburg, Nico Varrone and Ben Keating still walked away with the title as Dempsey-Proton Competition claimed Porsche’s maiden win of the year.
Here are 10 things we learned from the 2023 WEC 6 Hours of Monza.