Toyota suffered an agonising night at the 85th 24 Hours of Le Mans which saw two of its TS050 HYBRID cars retire from the race within 30 minutes of each other.
The race-leading #7 of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Stéphane Sarrazin suffered a clutch problem towards the end of the 10th hour. Kamui and the team tried valiantly to bring it back to the pits but he eventually had to park the car at the exit of the Porsche Curves and retire.
The @Toyota_Hybrid #7 has officially retired from #LeMans24 ??? pic.twitter.com/rIcSeedWmu
— FIA WEC (@FIAWEC) June 17, 2017
Just 15 minutes after that disappointment, the #9 TS050 HYBRID was hit by an LMP2 competitor approaching the first corner. That caused damage to the rear left of the car of Nicolas Lapierre, Yuji Kunimoto and José María López.
Nicolas continued as far as possible but the car was unable to reach the pits and at 1.30am he stopped the car for good. The impact had badly damaged the rear of the car and prevented it moving further.
Investigations are ongoing into the precise damage to both cars. They will be concluded when the cars are returned after the race.
That leaves the #8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima as the sole Toyota in the race
It is 29 laps behind after over an hour in the pits to replace the front motor and battery.
“It is so disappointing”, Kobayashi said. “The car was running very well and we were just taking things steady, building a gap at the front. Then after the safety car, I just had no power, tried to come back to the pits but it wasn’t possible. I feel so sad for everyone in the team who has worked so hard for this race and produced such a quick car.”
“I can’t believe it”, Lapierre added. “The LMP2 car was directly behind me at the end of the start-finish straight. I had the normal fuel cut. I guess he was surprised; he hit me from behind and that was it. It’s so frustrating for all of us on the team.”
The @Toyota_Hybrid #9 is now in trouble and pulling over at Arnage #LeMans24 #WEC pic.twitter.com/y2ksXqvF8E
— FIA WEC (@FIAWEC) June 17, 2017
.@Nico_Lapierre back to the pit. ☹ #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/QTRyXUoRMI
— Michelin Motorsport (@Michelin_Sport) June 17, 2017
