Porsche driver Matt Campbell believes Toyota has made it “easier” for the German manufacturer to win the World Endurance Championship this year.
Campbell made the comments after the penultimate round of 2024 WEC at Fuji, where Toyota’s best-placed car in the standings retired after a collision with the #5 Porsche 963 LMDh.
Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID was battling with the #5 Porsche of Campbell for seventh place when they came to blows at Turn 3, sending both cars into retirement.
While the #5 Porsche was never realistically in the title fight and hence had little to lose, the #7 entry Kobayashi shared with Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway was Toyota’s best hope of winning the drivers’ championship and had only a 12-point deficit to overcome to the other factory Penske car.
Kobayashi was subsequently handed a suspended drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable crash.
To make matters worse for the Japanese manufacturer on home turf, its second car driven by Ryo Hirakawa was involved in a separate run-in with the winning #6 Porsche 963 of Kevin Estre in the final hour, picking up a drive-through penalty that left it a distant 10th at the finish.
Combined, the two incidents have left Toyota virtually out of the fight for the drivers’ title, while leaving it with a 10-point deficit in the manufacturers’ race with just the Bahrain finale to run.
Campbell said he did not expect Kobayashi to be so aggressive while battling with him for position, but feels the incident only served to shift the balance away from Toyota in the championship fight.
“Thanks to Toyota [we are in a strong position], they've probably made it a little bit easier for us [for us to win the titles],” the Australian told Motorsport.com.
“For me I was surprised by the move and the incident because it also took them out and made it a lot harder for them [to win the title].
“For us, obviously we've still got to be able to do a good job in Bahrain, no doubt about that but obviously now it's a bit more of a bridge there [between us and Toyota].”
Estre and his team-mates Laurens Vanthoor and Laurens Vanthoor now enjoy a 35-point lead in the drivers championship over drivers in the #50 Ferrari 499P LMH, Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina. Kobayashi, de Vries and Conway have slipped to third in the #7 Toyota, facing a 37-point shortfall to the Porsche trio.
In the manufacturers’ battle, Porsche has gone from trailing Toyota by 11 points to leading the championship by 10, a 21-point swing in its favour over the course of the Fuji weekend.
There will be a total of 39 points on offer (including the bonus point for pole) in the eight-hour Bahrain finale compared to 26 for a regular WEC round.
While the drivers’ championship is effectively in the bag for Porsche, Estre believes securing a double title in 2024 will not be a “walk in the park” for the Stuttgart marque, especially with Bahrain’s abrasive track surface set to play into the hands of rival Toyota.
“We know that we have a comfortable lead,” he told the official WEC YouTube channel. “The manufacturers' is the most important thing for Porsche for sure, for us [drivers] as well.
“It's great to have the lead in both championships and have some gap, but Bahrain is a tough track, longer race and difficult on the tyre.
“We have to stay out of trouble, execute well as we did the whole season and we'll be good.
“It's definitely not gonna be a walk in the park there, the others are going to make it hard for us, but we are well prepared.”
