Kent’s Mike Conway and his Toyota Gazoo Racing team finished sixth in the 93rd Le Mans 24 hours race at the weekend.
It was not where he or the team wanted to finish, but given their grid position it was a good finish in the end.
A sell-out race week crowd of 332,000 witnessed a spectacular grid of 21 Hypercars – representing eight manufacturers – do battle as TOYOTA GAZOO Racing aimed for its sixth win at La Sarthe.
On the 40th anniversary of Toyota’s first Le Mans participation, the team took the fight to its rivals with effective strategy, precise driving and fighting spirit. But a promising race ultimately did not meet expectations as misfortune and a blistering pace at the front thwarted the team’s charge.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries valiantly overcame first-lap damage to recover from their disappointing qualifying. They gained 10 places and finished a hard-earned sixth in the #7 GR010 HYBRID.
Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa led the race at one stage and were challenging for a top-four finish when a mechanical issue cost over 20 minutes and dropped the #8 GR010 HYBRID out of contention. They eventually finished 16th.
The race started with action from the off, and both GR010 HYBRIDs gained positions during the opening hours to move towards the front. While the #8 crew fought their way into the top six, the #7 suffered bodywork damage on the first lap and later incurred a 50-second stop-go penalty for pit lane speeding.
The #8 battled into podium contention thanks to strong pace on soft tyres through the night, before a safety car at half distance created new opportunities by compressing the field. The #8 took the lead as lap 200 approached and the #7 – with its earlier deficit now wiped out – moved into the top 10.
As the final quarter of the race approached, a strong team effort had established the #8 in the top six and in a close fight with a Ferrari and a Porsche for an even higher finish. The #7 recovered to eighth, but the pace at the front was ultimately too hot for the GR010 HYBRIDs and the podium proved out of reach.
With four hours remaining, the #8 GR010 HYBRID’s challenge was ended when a broken component caused its front left wheel to detach. After returning to the pits on three wheels, mechanics worked together quickly to replace the front left assembly. Ryo resumed in 19th, having lost seven laps.
The #7 never stopped pushing and Kamui’s pace over the final hours brought the #12 Cadillac – which at one stage had been a minute ahead – into range, until a late drive through penalty ended that charge.
Kamui took the flag in sixth after completing 386 laps while the #8 crew finished 16th, seven laps behind the winner.
Speaking after the weekend, Conway said: “Sixth is definitely not where we wanted to be, but from where we started, I think that was all we had. We managed to fight our way up from 16th on the grid and that was due to a big effort from the whole team, so thanks to everyone for that.
“A 24-hour race is always hard but it’s even harder when you come away wishing you got a better result.
“We didn’t have enough performance to win but as always, the team pushed to the end. It just wasn’t to be this year; we have to come back stronger.”
Images courtesy of Paul Babington