Toyota secure fifth consecutive victory as fans flock to Le Mans 24 Hours

Definitive proof, were any needed, that fans are the lifeblood of a great event came at the 90th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A hearty, full-throated roar of approval vied with the rolling thunder of the 62-car field, the unique atmosphere returning to its full glory for the first time since the pandemic, lending a celebratory air to the Circuit de la Sarthe where Toyota secured a fifth consecutive win in the vingt-quatre.

A crowd of 200,000 were in attendance, the campsites once more heaving and cloaked in the familiar miasma of barbecue smoke, sausages and pale skin alike sizzling in the sunshine. They thronged the circuit and were rewarded with some compelling racing across the full 24 hours.

At the sharp end Toyota, the Japanese manufacturer that had for so long been denied a win here, proved they can claim a real mastery of this greatest 24. Victory was secured by the No 8 GR010 of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, beating the sister car of last year’s winners Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López into second. The privateer Glickenhaus team put in a very creditable run to claim third in the hands of Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Franck Mailleux.

Hartley acknowledged how hard fought the win had been. “We were battling so hard with the other car,” he said. “It was pretty stressful for the guys on the pit wall watching us go flat out until the other car had the problem, up until then it had been flat out against the sister car.”

Toyota, who only won the race for the first time in 2018, have been unassailable ever since and are now joining some rarified company in sportscar racing. They have surpassed Ford’s four wins at Le Mans and are one short of Bentley’s six. Admittedly