Toyota triumphs in a one-two finish at the 24 Hours of Le Man

Toyota triumphs in a one-two finish at the 24 Hours of Le Man – Full and Final Results for the 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez have taken victory in the 2021 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The race started behind the safety car after a rain shower and once it got fully underway there was instant drama when Sebastien Buemi was hit into a spin by Glickenhaus’ Olivier Pla.

Full 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours race results:

In the mayhem, the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid escaped unharmed and started building a lead that it would not relinquish for the remainder of the race, even as both Toyotas began suffering from identical fuel flow problems that briefly saw the #8 car come to a halt with Buemi behind the wheel on Sunday morning.

The #7 car, however, maintained its lead and managed the issue to take its first win and Toyota’s fourth consecutive overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

For Conway, Kobayashi and Lopez, it finally gives them the overall Le Mans win that eluded the trio in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

It also gives Toyota the historic first Le Mans victory in the Hypercar era

Buemi, Nakajima and Hartley finished second after a strong opening stint from Buemi followed the opening lap contact allowed the #8 car to charge back up the order and find its position behind the sister car.

Alpine Elf Matmut’s Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere had a fairly straightforward run to an overall podium, with the only notable moment being a spin for Vaxiviere during the night, but the #36 Alpine A480-Gibson definitively laid claim on the final podium spot on Sunday morning.

Glickenhaus exceeded expectations by getting both 007 LMHs to the finish in two trouble-free runs. The #708 007 LMH of Pipo Derani, Franck Mailleux and Olivier Pla finished fourth with Pla recovering after the opening lap contact.

Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Romain Dumas completed the top five in the #709 007 LMH.

With that era still to come, LMP2 was the most competitive class at Le Mans this year.

Yet once Anthony Davidson had spun the Jota entry that Antonio Felix da Costa had put on class pole into the gravel, the LMP2 fight was controlled by Le Mans newcomer Team WRT (above).

The enormously successful GT squad may have been taking on Le Mans for (remarkably) the first time, but it didn’t show as it stormed to a LMP2 1-2 and sixth and seventh overall.

The #41 car (above) had plenty of pedigree with Robert Kubica and Formula 2 race winner Louis Deltraz, but the third driver of the trio Yifei Ye is relatively new to sportscar racing and delivered a strong performance on his Le Mans debut.

However, on the very last lap of the 24 Hour race in what can only be described as a heartbreak, Ye ground to a snailspace with a mechanic issue.

The sister car (above) of Formula E ace Robin Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi had to use an inflatable air jack to service that car but was just over half a minute off the #41 when that car stopped.

Frijns inheriting the lead and had to hold off the Jota car of Tom Blomqvist who closed in from over two seconds behind but came up 0.7s short, unseen by TV cameras as they focused on the processional Toyota finish.

Blomqvist shared the runner-up entry with Stoffel Vandoorne and Sean Gelael, while the Panis Racing car of James Allen, Julien Canal and Will Stevens rounded off the class podium.

Ferrari was in commanding 1-2 form in GTE Pro – a class which has dwindled during the last two years over the coronavirus pandemic – for much of the event, until a suspension problem dropped the second AF Corse car down the order.

The #51 Ferrari of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Come Ledogar kept the top Corvette – #63 – at arm’s length from there, and their AF team-mates Nicklas Nielsen, Francois Perrodo and Alessio Rovera claimed GTE Am honours.

Toyota triumphs in a one-two finish at the 24 Hours of Le Man Toyota triumphs in a one-two finish at the 24 Hours of Le Man Toyota triumphs in a one-two finish at the 24 Hours of Le Man Toyota triumphs in a one-two finish at the 24 Hours of Le Man Toyota triumphs in a one-two finish at the 24 Hours of Le Man

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