Sudden-changing weather, crashes, yellow flags, technical problem and the regrettably death of Allan Simonsen made it hard for Toyota this year. Still, the team achieved second place and almost took third place on the podium if it wasn’t for the rain.
The #8 TS030 Hybrid enjoyed a smooth run despite the circumstances, managing to finish the race on second place, just one lap behind the Audi.
Things didn’t went so well with #7, which had to struggle a fuel pressure loss early in the race, two precautionary tire changes when sensors indicated slow punctures, slow in-lap to conserve fuel as well as the rain shower just one hour before the finnish, which caught it on slicks and sent it in the tire wall.
“I think it is a great day for TOYOTA Racing to get on the podium in the Le Mans 24 hours. We came quite close to the victory and we can be proud about this considering our team is only 18 months old.” #7 driver Nicolas Lapierre said. “The fact that the two cars finished the race without any major technical trouble is a big achievement. Unfortunately on our car I made a mistake which took us out of the fight for a podium. We had to push to get a third place finish and it didn’t work out. We finished fourth which is a disappointment but when I brought the car back to the garage I was so proud of the mechanics. They did really a great job and I was emotional to go back on the track after this.”
The damaged hybrid racer got bravely been driven back to the pits where it received a new front end and sent back in race, soon enough to catch fourth place.
Google News