Le Mans 24 Hours: Toyota targets its sixth victory

WECHyperCar

Jun 7

As reigning World Champions, with five victories in the past six editions, Toyota Gazoo Racing has prepared exhaustively for the 92nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing takes on the immense challenge of the Le Mans 24 Hours on 15-16 June targeting its sixth victory in the legendary French race, round four of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season.

Drivers, engineers and mechanics are ready to harness their strong team spirit and join an epic battle for honours at La Sarthe.

Mike Conway unable to compete at Le Mans

Mike Conway will not participate in the Le Mans 24 Hours as he suffered fractures to his ribs and collar bone in a cycling accident on Thursday and, while the injury is not serious, he will sadly not be fit to join Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries in the #7 GR010 HYBRID at Le Mans.
Mike Conway former team-mate José María López, who raced for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing from 2017 to 2023, returns to the cockpit of the #7 GR010 HYBRID, starting in Sunday’s official test. José, a two-time World Endurance Champion who won Le Mans in 2021 alongside Mike and Kamui, was due to race the Lexus RC F GT3 at Le Mans.

Victory critical for Manufacturers and drivers Championships

With a victory at Imola, a P2 at Lusaka and a P3 at Spa-Francorchamps, Toyota need a victory to reduce the gap with Ferrari in the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers Championship.

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, winners already this season at Imola, P5 in Qatar and P7 at Spa with the #7 GR010 HYBRID are currently third in the 2024 FIA Hypercar Drivers World Endurance Championship.

The reigning World Champions Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa are currently eight in the FIA Hypercar Drivers World Endurance Championship with a P8 at Qatar, P5 at Imola, P6 at Spa in the #8 GR010 HYBRID.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 2024.

#8 lineup with 4 , 3 and 1 Le Mans victories

Five of the team’s six drivers have already stood on top of the Le Mans podium. Sébastien Buemi has four victories while Brendon Hartley has three and Ryo Hyrakawa is one-time winner.

📷 © Courtesy of Toyota Gazoo Racing: Ryo Hirakawa, Brendon Hartley and Sébastien Buemi.

Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “Le Mans is a special race and it’s one we work very hard for, with a lot of sacrifice from the whole team and their families. The event is a real journey together, and you have to push to the limit to win. More than 300,000 fans, over 60 cars on track and so many manufacturers involved in a race that has been taking place for 100 years make it a unique experience. On top of that, the track is amazing. It uses public roads, and we can only drive on it for one week a year, so it feels like the kind of old-school circuit which you don’t find often anymore.”

Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “Le Mans is what all our hard work is geared towards. It’s the race that arguably means more than the whole season put together. Even if we didn’t have the cleanest of starts to the season, I feel we are well prepared, and I will be giving everything together with my team-mates and every member of the team to fight for that famous top step of the podium. Last year the crowd was amazing, and I expect with even more competitors this year, we will again have a full house of fans and racing enthusiasts from all over the world. It’s a special race which brings a whole range of emotions. We are ready for it.”

Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “This will be my fifth Le Mans, my third for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, and I cannot wait; it’s a very exciting time of the season. There is no better feeling than standing on the top of the podium after 24 hours; it’s what every endurance driver dreams of and I was able to achieve that in 2022. Knowing how it feels to win makes me even more motivated to stand there again but we know it will not be easy. Racing flat-out for 24 hours, anything can happen, and we face strong competition in Hypercar. But the team has worked really hard to be ready, and we will do our best to get the result.”

#7 drivers looking for second or first victory at Le Mans.

Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi are one-time winners, while Nyck de Vries makes his top-class debut, having competed four times in LMP2. Kamui Kobayashi holds the fastest-ever lap of the 13.626km Circuit de la Sarthe.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “Everyone in the team – at Higashi-Fuji, Cologne, the wider Toyota family, and our partners – has been working flat-out for a year to be ready for Le Mans. We have an intense 10 days ahead of us, against strong competition, and we must be on top of our game to challenge at the front. We need all our team spirit, experience, and effort to challenge for another Le Mans win but we are all determined to do that. It’s a special race with a unique atmosphere thanks to the fans from around the world who support us. From the scrutineering in the city until the podium, we feel their support and it drives us on. I can’t wait to be there again and be part of it.”

Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7): “Le Mans is one of the most iconic and prestigious races in the world. For everyone participating in WEC, it’s the biggest race of the year and the one that everyone wants to win; that’s definitely the case for us. It’s my first Le Mans as a Toyota race driver and I am very excited about that. I was part of the team in 2022 as test driver and have raced there in LMP2, but now I will hopefully be fighting for overall victory. It’s an exciting era and it’s going to be a real fight with so many teams and manufacturers. I am looking forward to the marathon week when hopefully Le Mans will choose us.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Three times winner Kazuki Nakajima, Grand Marshal

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Le Mans 2018: first 24 Hours of Le Mans victory for the trio Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima with #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid.

Kazuki Nakajima, Vice Chairman of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Europe and one of only ten drivers to win Le Mans three consecutive years (2018, 2019 and 2020), has been given the role of Grand Marshal for this year’s event by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, an honour which includes leading the field away on the formation lap for the race.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2019: that same year the trio Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima clinched their second victory in a row with #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Toyota made its Le Mans debut almost 40 years ago, in 1985, and it has since achieved five victories, 17 podiums and eight pole positions, completing more than 16,000 racing laps, equivalent to more than five times around the circumference of the earth.