It was a leap too far for anyone to stop Toyota this year, despite them having a multitude of issues!
It may have been another fairly comfortable 1-2 for Toyota, however behind them we did get a lot of battles for class wins, as well as some rather dramatic moments.
It was clear before the race started that Toyota would have a pace advantage over the rest, the only question would be their reliability, as we had already seen issues in much shorter races for them. They seemingly did have some problems, as they weren’t able to maximise their stint lengths for most of the race, possibly due to a failure of the Electric Motors, but it wasn’t enough to risk them losing the win.
The most dramatic moment in Hypercars was when off the start the No.709 Glickenhaus hit the No.8 Toyota, sending it to the back of the pack. This put it out contention for the win really, especially as it had to do a power cycle soon after the incident. So, it was the No.7 team who gave Conway and Lopez their first win at Le Mans. They better enjoy it while they can, before they are put under pressure by the multitude of new teams entering the category.
The Alpine span early on in the race, but even without its issues, they were no match for the Japanese outfit, and should be very happy with an overall podium. Glickenhaus would have wanted to beat the old LMP1 car, but in their first Le Mans, they just had a few too many setbacks, and lacked any real pace advantage over the Alpine too. Getting both cars to the finish is commendable in their first 24 hour race, and with BOP they could really challenge Toyota next year.
LMP2 has always been a tightly fought class, and it was dramatic all the way to the line this year, as Team WRT nearly didn’t win at all despite having a 1-2 going into the last lap. The retirement of the No.41 car at the start of the last lap shows the sheer cruelty of this event, as that car had been driven so well all race. That then meant the battle for the win was just separated by 2 seconds, and by the end of the lap that was down to less than a second. When you factor in that most of the other cars were touring around to finish the race, it was a recipe for chaos and disaster!
It so nearly ended that way, as coming to the chequered flag, the wining WRT car had to dodge slowing GT cars, and barely missed the flag waver. I am pretty sure this will be the last year that the flag is waved out on track, as it could have gone so wrong this year. WRT at least got the win they deserved after all of that drama, although it will do nothing to heal the wounds for one half of the team.
There was another dangerous moment, as after the Richard Mille Racing car was crashed into on the entry to the Porsche Curves, Floersch seemed to reverse back onto the track, which wasn’t the best idea in the world. It was a shame, as that car has been going well this year, with their all-female driver line up, acting as a great role model to girls around the world.
GTE Pro may be dying out for the rest of the season, but the bolstered line up helped to give us some good battles in the class for a while. Unfortunately, with some cars retiring, and others just lacking the pace of the No.51 car, it was a steady ride home for the Ferrari, to notch up another class win. Corvette should take solace from a 2nd place finish, as they only come across the pond for Le Mans, and with more experience here, could have put more pressure on Ferrari. Porsche would have wanted to get more out of Le Mans, yet they weren’t able to maximise it when it counted, despite qualifying well.
Ferrari swept GTE, as the No.83 car won the AM class, half a lap ahead of 2nd place. With so many teams making errors, it opened the door for them, whose only problem was a spin in the opening stages of the race. 2nd was the TF Sport Aston Martin No.33, yes that Horsemen sponsored car! Iron Lynx completed the podium for Ferrari.
Overall, the race went well, no major issues, and some rain in the opening stages to add a little spice. I just cannot wait to see what battles we could get here as more iconic names return to the circuit in the coming years.
-M
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