24 Hour Le Mans: 1st win for 4th consecutive manufacturer Toyota N7

Britain’s Mike Conway, Japanese Kamui Kobayashi and Argentina’s Jose Maria Lopez’s Toyota N7, unfortunately in 2017, 2019 and 2020, won the 24-hour Le Mans without much trouble on Sunday.

For the Japanese brand, this is the fourth success at Classic Le Mans‌, the fourth in a row since 2018.

Toyota N8 from Swiss Sebastian Bhumi, Japanese Kazuki Nakajima and Brendan Hartley from New Zealand, and the only running Alpine, Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre, Matthew Waxweir and Brazilian Andre Negro’s N.36, complete the podium.

It’s 89^E The edition took place in late August rather than mid-June, after the closed session in 2020, accommodating 50,000 spectators (20% of the general population) despite the COVID-19 epidemic.

At 4:13 pm on Saturday from the pole position, on a wet track, N.7 controlled the race. Rain, or a slow puncture in the first hours, or straight ahead at night, or refueling problems in the morning, Sunday did not seem to put it at risk.

Its competitors either. N.8, the three-time defending champion, was unable to rise above second place on the grid after being trapped in the first corner.

The other two manufacturers have entered the new Premier Class Hyper cars, Alpine and Glycanhaus (fourth and fifth place finishers) failed to stress the favorites.

They did not benefit from the fidelity problem faced by the two Toyotas, the team was able to “escape” to achieve this double.

In LMP2, Team WRT won just 727/1000 early for the Oreka N.31, but it was a double miss after a brutal stop on the N.41 track.

Wins for Ferrari N.51 on LMGTE Pro and Ferrari N.83 on LMGTE-Am.

N.84 car, handed over to two paraplegic drivers, completed in 32 by Japanese Takuma Ayoki and Belgian Nigel Bailey^E Space.

The World Auto Endurance Championship (WEC) 2021 season will conclude in Bahrain with two races, one on October 30 at 6 a.m. and the other on November 6 at 8 p.m. The next 24 hours Le Mans should return to their usual dates of June 11 and 12, 2022.