What the Drivers said on Thursday at Spa

Kamui Kobayashi, Toyota Gazoo Racing, No.7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid Hypercar

(On new expanded role at TGR) “I'm checking in my hair colour to see if it is going white yet! But it seems ok

“I enjoy my new role. It's a lot of work, extra work. But I think somehow to get to this experience, to be honest, I think it's a great opportunity for myself.  We'll see how it goes. This is just the beginning of the chapter, and I'm looking forward to  the future.

Romain Dumas, Glickenhaus Racing, No.708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH

“In terms of the (Hypercar) rules, we have to adapt as drivers and I think that in the championship you see so many brands coming in the future, so the rule is right in this is kind of term.

“For sure the driving is not so easy. It's completely different than if you compare it to LMP2 or 675 kilo cars, you cannot compare and it's completely different.

“But at the end of the day the rule is the same for everybody. We have to adapt, and we are here to win. So, at the end of the day, we were all on the same game and aim for the same result.”

Nick Tandy, Corvette Racing, No.64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R LMGTE Pro

“I was talking to Tommy this morning actually and yes he's never even been to this circuit to test and of course, he hasn't raced before.

“So, with Spa being such an iconic world renowned circuit, it's unfamiliar for him, and I'm not sure the last time Tommy went to a brand new track at all.

“This is all part of his learning process. Of course, I've got a bit of experience here from mostly GT3 stuff recently. I think I last race here in 2015 in WEC with Porsche.”

Tommy Milner, Corvette Racing, No.64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R LMGTE Pro

“Everybody talked about how much elevation change there is here, so I did the track walk the other day and it’s something different, for sure.

"Eau Rouge and the Raidillon takes you a lap or two to get used to the elevation change. It’s the complete opposite from the Corkscrew [at Laguna Seca] where you feel completely weightless and in this one you get all the weight in you. But overall this is a super-cool race track – a very fast, flowing, fun race track. I really, really enjoyed those first laps.”

Rene Rast, WRT, No.31 Oreca-Gibson LMP2

(On re-surfacing): “I think in general it's just a bit smoother, the whole tarmac, especially the Eau Rouge section and some other corners are just a bit smoother.

“I don't think it will influence the race result or any particular overtaking or something like that. It just a bit more open if you have a spin or have crash there, so just a bit more space for safety reasons,  which is I think the right thing to do.”

Rahel Frey, Iron Dames, No.85 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo

(on teammate changes) “It's never easy to have last minute changes to a driver a line-up.

“Definitely for Sarah, it’s very unlucky to miss her home race. But since the beginning of the pandemic, our team has a very strict COVID policy. It's not only to protect our old team members, but also their families. Safety always comes first with this.

“We are happy to have found a nice replacement with Christina and Doriane, who is 18 years old, I believe she's one of the youngest here.

“In the end, we managed everything. We have good people in the background at Iron Dames, which helped us organise everything quite quickly.”

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