24h Le Mans
The battle of the manufacturers is on | It’s not often Toyota enters the 24 Hours of Le Mans as anything other than the favourite. Despite five wins in the last six years, the Japanese team is slipping down the tables. A year after relinquishing their title to Ferrari, their goal is as clear as is it challenging: to come out on top against the most competitive grid ever.
Last year, Toyota won every race of the season. Except one. The 24 Hours of Le Mans eluded them for the first time since 2017, by just one lap. The Centenary title was being hotly contested until Ryō Hirakawa’s mistake at Arnage in the final stages quashed the Japanese manufacturer’s chances. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. “We move on quickly. We’re still a bit upset, but we have to concentrate on this year’s race. We’ve learned from it,” said Sébastien Buemi, driver of the #8 GR010 – Hybrid.
This year, the Hypercar is shrouded in black, in stark contrast to the traditional red and white hues of its homeland. “It was the idea of our chairman, Akio Toyoda. Black is the colour of prototypes, and therefore of speed,” said Hirakawa. But the radical revamp didn’t work its magic at the start of the season, which was blighted by subpar performance. “If you look at our recent results, we’ve consistently been behind, especially compared to Porsche and Ferrari," Buemi sighed. "Our win at Imola was more down to our strategy.” Being strategic is undeniably an asset in a 24-hour race, but for the team’s drivers, that doesn't make Toyota the favourite.
Interestingly, the Porsche crews say exactly the opposite. They see Toyota as the biggest threat and will be focusing on their times at last year’s 24 Hours rather than their favourable start to the season. Brendon Hartley, also in the #8 Toyota, can see what his former team is trying to do: “They're trying to take the pressure off. They’ve got six cars, they are among the favourites, their speed is excellent. The Cadillacs should be up front too.”
His teammate Buemi is no stranger to these sorts of mind games and isn’t falling for it: “How can the Porsche drivers not feel like favourites? It’s impossible, after sweeping the podium in Qatar, coming second and third in Imola, and a one-two in Spa-Francorchamps. It’s too easy to say that, they even have a private car that wins [Hertz Team Jota’s Porsche 963]. We can’t be looking at the same results.”
While pure performance may not be the GR010 Hybrid’s forté, the team’s intricate knowledge of the race gives them an edge. Toyota has been vying for victory against the world’s leading manufacturers since the early 1990s. As #7 driver Nyck de Vries says, “The team has been in the championship for a very long time. We’ve got the experience, it’s an undeniable asset. Speed isn't the only key factor in a 24-hour race.” This year, the Dutch driver is competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the factory team for the first time. Formula 2 champion in 2019, his natural knack for speed will see him through some critical moments. He was initially due to drive alongside team stalwarts Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway, but Conway was injured on a bike ride last week.
He has been replaced at short notice by seasoned Argentinian driver José María López, who was originally enlisted in a Lexus RC F LMGT3 for the Akkodis ASP Team. López won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Toyota in 2021, and only left the team at the end of the 2023 season. Knowing the machine inside out, he feels up to the challenge: “My thoughts are with Mike, of course. We are very close. I was with him at the time and I fell too, but I’m fine. I feel mixed emotions, but it’s an opportunity for me, there’s no denying it. If we manage to roll out our game plan, we’ll be able to fight up front. I know the track, I'm confident.”
The prototype hasn't changed much over the winter and he should feel right at home. Apart from the headlights and a few minor improvements, the GR010 – Hybrid is much the same as last year, still powered by its 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 hybrid. “I hope we’ll still pull off a good performance at Le Mans,” confided Brendon Hartley. The way he sees it, one defeat shouldn’t wipe out five victories. “We have to keep the same mindset. We were in with a chance until the last hour. It’s probably going to be the closest race ever.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing hasn’t got off to the best start at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite some decent performances on Test Day, qualifying was calamitous. Kamui Kobayashi was on the cusp of setting the benchmark when he took his #7 GR010-Hybrid off at the Karting corner with just a few minutes to go. Things went from bad to worse as his exit brought the session to a halt, thwarting Hartley’s efforts in the #8 car by the same token. And it didn’t stop there. The rules state that a contender who causes a red flag will have all their lap times deleted. The upshot was that neither of the Toyotas took part in the Hyperpole session last night. This is the first time this has happened since the new format came into play in 2020.
“We have to start from the back of the Hypercar grid,” lamented Kobayashi. But he keeps things into perspective: “We were competitive.” Hartley doesn’t hide his bitterness quite so well. “I had some traffic on my first lap. In the next one, I made a mistake, and at the end, the red flag. I’m disappointed,” the New Zealander admitted. The six drivers will have to make history in the big race to secure a win from 11th and 23rd places. Only five winners have started from 11th place or higher since pole position was introduced in 1963.
You won’t have failed to notice: Toyota’s top-of-the-range division Lexus is making its début in the LMGT3 category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, making the teams pit neighbours. Even though the team preparing the two RC F LMGT3s is none other than the Akkodis ASP Team, a French outfit that's well-known in GT circles, Toyota is fully behind the project. “Lexus is part of Toyota. It’s more than synergy, we help each other a lot. There is a lot of interest in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Japan, so it's important for our brand,” says Kobayashi, who is also head of Toyota Gazoo Racing.
The showdown between manufacturers starts here. The verdict will be delivered on track, with the race to start at 16:00 on Saturday 15 June. This battle will also be the theme of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Show, which spectators at this year’s race will be able to enjoy at 23.30 on Saturday night. Electro duo Synapson will provide the musical backdrop to the dazzling display that combines drones, light, video and pyrotechnics.
