After years of futile campaigns, Toyota finally ended its victory drought by winning the 86th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours on Sunday, taking the top 2 spots by outclassing the competition using a hybrid car.
Two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso anchored Toyota's victory together with teammates Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, dominating the LMP1 class, where they outran the field with the No. 8 TS050 hybrid.
Toyota led from start to finish, leaving the competition eating their dust en route to their first win in the greatest endurance race in the world. Toyota's No. 7 hybrid shared by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez placed second, finishing two laps short of the No. 8 car.
Rebellion Racing took the third and fourth spots, with the No. 3 car shared by Thomas Laurent, Mathias Beche, and Gustavo Menezes finishing 12 laps behind. The No. 1 Rebellion Racing Car driven by André Lotterer, Neel Jani, and Bruno Senna finished 13 laps behind the No. 8 Toyota hybrid.
Finishing in the Top 10 were G-Drive Racing (19 laps behind), Signatech Alpine Matmut (21 laps behind),and Graff-SO24 (22 laps behind). TDS Racing was also 22 laps behind. United Autosports finished 23 laps behind, and Jackie Chan DC Racing was 27 laps behind.
In the LMP2 category, the team of Jean-Eric Vergne, Andrea Pizzitola, and Romain Rusinov drove the No. 26 G-Drive Racing Oreca to victory. The trio led all the way en route to their first Le Mans victory.
Alonso Eyeing Motorsports' Triple Crown
Alonso joined Toyota's World Endurance Championship (WEC) program this season with an eye of winning the motorsports' triple crown. A two-time Monaco Grand Prix winner, Alonso is now eyeing to win the Indianapolis 500 to take all three crowns. If he accomplishes it, he will join Graham Hill as the only winner of the three races.
Toyota's two entries had a close battle early in the race. The momentum shifted temporarily to the No. 7 car after Buemi was penalized by 60 seconds for speeding in a caution zone. The penalty gave the No. 7 car a two-minute edge over Alonso's No. 8. When Alonso took the wheel, he helped the No. 8 car erase the deficit before Nakajima finally grabbed the lead in the 16th hour and was never threatened from there.
Alonso Still In Shock After Win
After the race, Alonso says he's still in a little bit of shock with their victory. Alonso described the race as a tense 24 hours, but he survived it, as the event suited his driving style. Buemi, for his part, said the win was the biggest of his career, while Nakajima thanked Toyota for giving the team a very strong car.
Photo: Zach Catanzareti | Flickr
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