Switzerland’s Sebastien Buemi (left), New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley (right) and Japan’s Ryo Hirakawa (Toyota Gazu Racing GRO10 Hybrid) celebrate the victory
Toyota He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times in a row in the classic endurance race, and with another overwhelming performance yesterday, car 8 finished ahead of car 7.
New Zealander Brendon Hartley took pole position, Toyota Gazu’s 8th place finished the race in sunny and warm conditions, and teammates Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa were watching from the team garage.
Swiss driver Buemi has won four times, a second victory for Toyota, after Hartley won his third victory and his first victory at Porsche in 2017. Both had a modest career in F1.
Dane Tom Kristensen holds the record with nine wins.
Hirakawa won his first victory in the famous race held for the first time in 1923, joining Japanese compatriots Kazuki Nakajima (3 wins) and Kamui Kobayashi (1).
Argentina’s Jose Maria Lopez followed Toyota’s seventh place a few minutes behind the circuit de la Sarthe in northwestern France.
Kobayashi, who won 7th place last year, and British driver Mike Conway joined Lopez, emphasizing that Toyota broke control of Audi and Porsche.
After a calm night, Toyota experienced a rare blip when Buemi grabbed the steering wheel and punctured No. 8 around 7:30 am.
Ryan Briscoe closed the race as Glickenhaus 007’s car finished in 3rd place, 5 laps behind the winner.
American Josh Pearson became the youngest driver at the age of 16 in 188 days, slightly younger than 16-year-old Matt McMurry in 2014.
Pearson ran 97 laps as he shared his duties with the United Autosports USA team, which drives the Oreca 07 with Oliver Jarvis and Alex Lynn, finishing sixth in the LM P2 category. MDT / AP
