Motorsport: Brendon Hartley’s fourth world title the toughest

Kiwi driver Brendon Hartley at Le Mans. Photo / Getty Images

Brendon Hartley claimed his fourth World Endurance Championship this year but says the title is becoming tougher to win.

The good news for the category is that a growing number of manufacturers are competing but that adds to the challenge for Hartley and his Toyota Gazoo Racing co-drivers Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa.

“It was certainly an exciting year with all the new competition on the grid, like Porsche, Ferrari, Peugeot and others,” Hartley said.

“We were the favourites but didn’t know how the others would line up, which added extra pressure, especially when Ferrari took the first pole of the year. We managed to win the title, but it’s going to be hard next year with even more teams joining the series.

“I think there are now 19 cars for the championship in our category [Hypercars] and that’s not been seen I think since the 1980s.

“That’s incredibly exciting and the championship is in a healthy state. I’m in good form at the moment, as are my teammates, and we’re looking forward to the challenge of winning another world title, especially with even stronger competition.”

After successfully defending their world title, Hartley said their one regret was failing to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the 34-year-old has been victorious in 2017, 2020 and 2022.

“We had a pretty dominant season and Toyota still showed the world we’re the ones to beat and the others had to work hard to catch up.

“We didn’t win Le Mans; that was tough [Hartley’s team were second]. Le Mans would have been nice and the focus for next year will be on winning there again.”

Hartley is no stranger to driving in the United States, having raced in the IMSA Championship on an ad hoc basis. Next year, he will contest the Michelin Endurance Cup events for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport. He will join Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor in the Acura ARX-06 for the five endurance races of 2024.

He was part of the winning team at the 2017 Motul Petit Le Mans with Tequila Patron ESM and has driven in two recent races for WTRAndretti, the 2022 Petit Le Mans and this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“I really enjoyed my time with WTRAndretti at Petit [Le Mans] last year and Daytona this year, so I jumped at the opportunity to compete in the endurance races in 2024 when Wayne called me. WTRAndretti knows how to win, and going to a two-car team will strengthen the whole operation even further.”

Hartley is one of eight New Zealanders to make the Autosport top 50 drivers of 2023 on the back of victories in the 6 Hours of Portimao and 8 Hours of Bahrain, in addition to finishing runner-up in the 1000 Miles of Sebring, 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, 6 Hours of Fuji and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

He moved up six places to sit 16th and was joined in the top 50 by Nick Cassidy, Mitch Evans, Liam Lawson, Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Tom Blomqvist.

“People are always asking me why we’re so good at racing, as it’s pretty impressive to have so many Kiwis on the list. It’s crazy numbers for a little island and some people don’t realise how big a deal it is.

“The last five years have seen so many of us doing so well and I’ve always said I’m really proud to be one of them to fly the flag.”

Hartley’s impressive year was topped off when he was recently named a contender for the Halberg Sportsman of the Year award.