Toyota drivers ride rollercoaster of emotions en route to ending Le Mans win drought

Call it closure, call it vindication, call it the most satisfying win for Toyota at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Their winning drivers certainly would.

“I was waiting so long to win this victory,” said Kamui Kobayashi – driver, team principal, and long-time face of Toyota Racing’s world championship racing endeavors from his first cup of coffee in F1, to his two wins at Le Mans.

He was the sullen runner-up during that infamous 2016 Le Mans, the greatest flashpoint of Toyota’s long-running Toyota curse. Ten years later, he took the red and white No. 7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid to a very satisfying win for everyone at Toyota Racing, especially the three winning drivers.

RACE REPORT: Conway, de Vries and Kobayashi reclaim Le Mans glory for Toyota

“Actually, as the car No. 7 crew, we have a lot of seconds at Le Mans," Kobayashi noted. "But we’d only got one win until here. Now, we’ve got the second win."

Starting from 14th on the grid, Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries quietly worked their way towards the front, overcoming a poor result in Hyperpole qualifying, a puncture, and a driveshaft problem which had a longer-lasting impact on the race than any would have expected.

“I think we had a very challenging week, and even including the race, we were not smooth enough. I mean, we had a puncture, we had a driveshaft sensor issue, so we had no power. It was very tough for us, but we made it in the end,” Kobayashi said.

It was also the second Le Mans win for Conway, who was last victorious in 2021 with Kobayashi and José Maria López in the Toyota GR010’s first venture to Le Mans.

After giving the overhauled TR010 its first Le Mans win, Conway said, “We had a tough one. Honestly, it was looking so good for car No. 8 for a long time, and our competition was super tough. I think even in the last sort of three hours, we didn’t really know what was going to happen.”

Kobayashi had BMW M Team WRT’s Robin Frijns in hot pursuit during the last hour, and the margin of victory was only 10.824s at the checkered flag after 24 hours of racing across 381 laps – which was a bit nerve-racking for Conway as he watched it from the sidelines.

“Robin made it super-tense; I think Nyck was closing his eyes in his room for the last hour, hiding from everyone…I was pacing around in the drivers’ room, had about 15 toilet breaks in the last 30 minutes! But we got through it, and we’re here – we did the job.”

“I’m incredibly grateful and relieved, as well as happy,” de Vries said. “The race was relentless. We had lots of challenges come our way but somehow, we always kept going. Frankly speaking, there were many moments that I thought we were out of contention.“But somehow... they say that Le Mans chooses you to win, and I think that’s what happened for us today. I’m very happy that I got that monkey here off my back and added that to my list!”

Regarding the driveshaft sensor issue, Kobayashi later explained, “We had to drive in safe mode, which is less power; at one point, I think we were quite giving up. We just tried to finish the race.

“But I think when we were, you know, driving with care, we somehow came back a little bit better in general with the engine and driveshaft sensor, and I think that brought us a little hope.”

The No. 8 looked to be leading the charge for Toyota much of the 24 hours, but the stars didn't align for it this time. James Moy Photography/Getty Images

On the other side of the Toyota garage, the No. 8 TR010 Hybrid was the Japanese team’s strongest challenger from the early going thanks to some bold strategy calls.

It may have been the car which won today, but an untimely safety car intervention, a problem with the left-rear brake which required multiple trips to the pits for replacements, and a penalty for speeding under a full course yellow contributed to a third place for Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa.

“I think we did get the strategy right at the beginning,” Hartley said. “We knew we were out of position; we didn’t prioritize qualifying and Ryo got a bit unlucky (during Hyperpole).

“We knew if we could get some clean air we could maybe move forward. It worked out, a bit of luck here and there. There were times where we were looking in great shape.

“We had our fair share of bad luck as well,” he added. “Safety cars brought us all back together. There were times where we were looking out of sync; we had a penalty, which was a kind of systems control issue, and the safety car brought us back.

“This race was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions, as always. Like the BMW guys, there’s a big feeling of disappointment to be close to victory. On the other hand, I’m very grateful to be wearing the Toyota overalls and take this victory as a team. We’ve all worked for this as a team, and I’m not only happy for my teammates, but all the individuals that have worked tirelessly all year. To improve the car, to work on every little detail to be better.

“And also to our competitors, because I think we set the bar high, and everyone’s come so strong that they’ve pushed us to work and work and work. This victory for car No. 7 makes everything worthwhile. But there is some disappointment, as well as mixed emotions, I think would be the fair statement.”