24H Le Mans Recap: Toyota Holds on For Historic Hypercar Victory & More
Top post-race stories from a drama-filled French endurance classic...
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez have claimed a long-awaited 24 Hours of Le Mans victory for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the debut of the Hypercar era in the French endurance classic.
The No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid overcame an intermittent fuel-related issue that impacted both the winning car and second-placed Toyota’s stint lengths in the final six hours.
Despite battling various gremlins, the Japanese manufacturer’s Le Mans Hypercar entries dominated the 89th running of the race, having led from the safety car start due to a pre-race downpour.
While the pole-sitting No. 7 Toyota of Conway stretched out into an early lead after a chaotic restart that saw the No. 708 Glickenhaus 007 of Olivier Pla clobber the Sebastien Buemi-driven No. 8 Toyota, it also overcame two punctures in the opening three hours that put it off-sequence.
Read the full story on Sportscar365
Fixing Fuel Issue Would Have Been “Game Over” for Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director Pascal Vasselon admitted it would have been “game over” had the team decided to take its Toyota GR010 Hybrids to the garage to fix a fuel pressure issue that impacted both of its Le Mans Hypercars.
The Japanese manufacturer scored a 1-2 finish in the 24 Hours of Le Mans after “managing” the fuel-related issue that developed in the final six hours of the race.
It resulted in both the No. 8 and eventual race-winning No. 7 Toyota completing reduced stints, sometimes as little as two laps according to runner-up finisher Brendon Hartley.
Read the Full Story on Sportscar365
WRT’s Frijns “Thought Race Was Over” When Issues Struck
24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 class winner Robin Frijns “thought the race was over” for Team WRT’s No. 31 crew after an air jack failure and contact with a GTE car appeared to thwart their chances of victory in the final three hours.
Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi ended up prevailing despite their leading Oreca 07 Gibson encountering a series of late dramas that thrust the sister No. 41 WRT Oreca driven by Robert Kubica, Louis Deletraz and Yifei Ye in a position to win.
The fortunes reversed again when Ye stopped at the beginning of the last lap, enabling Frijns to inherit a lead that he would go on to convert in a thrilling final-lap battle with JOTA driver Tom Blomqvist that was decided by 0.7 seconds.
Read the Full Story on Sportscar365
No. 51 Ferrari Wins Pro; AF Corse Claims Both GTE Classes
James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Come Ledogar won the GTE-Pro class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as Ferrari entries claimed victory in both of the GTE categories.
The drivers of the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo dominated the second half of an attrition-filled Pro race that saw half of the eight-car field encounter significant time delays due to issues.
Pier Guidi took the checkered flag 41.6 seconds clear of Antonio Garcia in the No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that was co-driven by Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg.
Those were the only two cars to finish on the lead lap, as the factory Porsche 911 RSR-19s came through in third and fourth without being able to challenge the leaders.
Read the Full Story on Sportscar365
Derani: FCY Dashed Glickenhaus’ Podium Hopes
Corvette “Tried Everything” to Close Gap to Ferrari
Muehlner Wins Road to Le Mans Race 2
FIA, ACO Extend Collaboration Agreement
DragonSpeed to Run Seb Montoya in Bahrain Rookie Test