Automotive

The Toyota No. 7 Finally Takes A Well-Earned 24 Hours Of Le Mans Victory


Image for article titled The Toyota No. 7 Finally Takes A Well-Earned 24 Hours Of Le Mans Victory

Photo: JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP (Getty Images)

With a massive lead over the rest of the field, Toyota Nos. 7 and 8 pulled into the pit lane to get cleaned up and sent out for their 1-2 finish. And after 24 hours of chaos and effort, that’s just how they finished. The Toyotas certainly shared a moment of sympathy with the LMP2 leader as No. 41 slowed to a stop on the Dunlop Curves on the final lap, losing out on the lead. But it was triumph — and a long time coming— for the No. 7 Toyota. Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Jose Maria Lopez are now victors at Le Mans.

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It was almost a tragic end as a buildup of cars coming across the line nearly struck the flagman walking out to show the checkered flag to the finishers. The WRT and the Jota were battling for position, with a mere seven-tenths of a second separating the two.

It was also a stunning debut for Glickenhaus Racing, with both cars finishing the race and taking fourth and fifth overall for the 708 and 709, respectively.

At the end of the race, 15 cars had failed to take the checkered flag.

Top 3 Overall

  1. No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez
  2. No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing: Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Brendon Hartley
  3. No. 36 Alpine Elf Matmut: Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere

Top 3 Hypercar

  1. No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez
  2. No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing: Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Brendon Hartley
  3. No. 36 Alpine Elf Matmut: Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere

Top 3 LMP2

  1. No. 31 Team WRT: Robin Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi
  2. No. 28 Jota: Sean Gelael, Stoffel Vandoorne, Tom Blomqvist
  3. No. 65 Panis Racing: Julien Canal, Will Stevens, James Allen

Top 3 LM GTE Pro

  1. No. 1 AF Corse: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Come Ledogar
  2. No. 63 Corvette Racing: Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, Nicky Catsburg
  3. No. 92 Porsche GT Team: Kevin Estre, Neel Jani, Michael Christensen

Top 3 LM GTE AM

  1. No. 83 AF Corse: Francois Perrodo, Nicklaus Nielsen, Alessio Rovera
  2. No. 33 TF Sport: Ben Keating, Dylan Pereira, Felipe Fraga
  3. No. 80 Iron Lynx: Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi, Callum Ilott

Innovative Class

  1. No. 84 Association SRT41: Takuma Aoki, Nigel Bailly, Matthieu Lahaye
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