Toyota dodges the drama and crowns its treble at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 88th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans allowed Toyota to round out its overwhelming dominance with the triumph of its car 8, driven by

,

and

.

The Japanese brand, which does not plan to participate in 2021, closes the LMP1 stage with its third consecutive victory, before preparing its jump to the 'hypercars', the prototypes that will participate in the World Endurance Championship from 2022.

The absence of

, winner with the TS050 Hybryd in the 2018 and 2019 editions, did not diminish the performance of the Gazoo Racing car 8, which beat the car driven by

,

and

in its traditional pulse

.

After starting from pole, the favorites had amassed a lead of more than one lap in the early hours of the race, but a faulty front brakes shortly before midnight put them on the ropes.

Car 7 was then taking over, although its turbo problems midway through the journey ended up frustrating its options.

Half an hour in the pits

The mechanics' work was delayed for almost half an hour, so Kobayashi returned to the asphalt with almost six laps lost to the leaders.

One more fatality for # 7, which a year ago also lost the victory due to another mechanical failure in the final section of the test.

From that moment on, the entire Gazoo Racing staff became uneasy, suspecting that the turbo could also fail the leaders.

Those hours of anxiety, with the appearance of a mysterious smoke in # 8, finally ended in relief.

Of course, Toyota could not complete its double in 2018 and 2019, since the Rebellion # 3 of

,

and

took advantage of the misfortune to sneak into second position, five laps behind the winners.

At least, the hat-trick allows the team led by

keep the trophy as their property and display it in their factory in Japan.

Molina puncture

The most intense emotions, as is often the case at Le Mans, were experienced in the three lower categories.

In LMP2, the victory went to the # 22 of United Autosport, owned by Zak Brown, with

,

and

at the wheel.

Special mention for car 50 of the Richard Mille team, driven by

,

and

, ninth in LMP2.

For his part,

finished eighteenth in this category, taking turns at the wheel with

and

.

In LMGTE Pro, the win was the 97th Aston Martin Vantage by

,

and

.

The always combative

, with the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, finished in seventh place, accompanied by

and

.

A puncture during the early morning, with Bird at the controls, frustrated the podium options for the AF Corse team.

The sanitary measures prevented the attendance of fans, who left the 13,626 km of the circuit of La Sarthe empty.

In addition, the change of date, after leaving June behind, caused a longer night than normal, to which all participants had to adapt.

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