Toyota returns to Le Mans glory with dramatic victory over BMW
Toyota Gazoo Racing ended Ferrari's three-year dominance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning the 94th edition with its #7 GR010 Hybrid driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries. The margin over second-placed BMW was just over 10 seconds after 24 hours of racing. Source: El Colombiano, Milenio
Comeback from 14th
Toyota's #7 car started from 14th on the grid after a poor qualifying. Source: Excelsior The team employed an early pit-stop strategy within the first 30 minutes, which allowed them to avoid traffic and climb through the field. Source: Milenio By the final hours, a safety car period closed the gap, and Kobayashi took the lead after the restart. Source: Excelsior
The podium and key battles
BMW #20 (Robin Frijns, René Rast, Sheldon van der Linde) finished second, their best result since returning to Le Mans. Source: Infobae (remonta) The sister Toyota #8 (Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa) completed the podium. Source: La Voz (Pechito) Cadillac, which had claimed pole position, suffered a power steering failure on its #38 car early Sunday, forcing retirement. Source: Infobae (EFE) The remaining Cadillac #12 finished fourth. Source: El Colombiano
Argentine presence
José María "Pechito" López, driving a Lexus in LMGT3 class, finished fourth in class after a strong comeback following a night-time collision and penalty. Source: La Voz (Pechito)
Sources
5 quotes“"Ha sido muy duro, ¡pero lo hemos conseguido!"”
“"Se dice que Le Mans elige siempre a sus propios campeones, creo que es lo que nos ha ocurrido a nosotros hoy"”
“Toyota, con su TR010 Hybrid, ejecutó una carrera perfecta en la que su monoplaza número 7, que salió desde el decimocuarto puesto, remontó posiciones para subirse a lo más alto de un podio”
“"Tuvimos una gran remontada final. El auto respondió bien y los neumáticos acompañaron en la búsqueda del podio"”
“Cadillac, que confiaba en su coche 12 y en el 38, en el que el oriundo de Le Mans, Sébastien Bourdais, luchaba por el liderato junto sus compañeros, vio frenadas sus expectativas por un fallo en la dirección asistida”