The 24 Hours of Le Mans has long been a goal for the Japanese marque and this year they were just 6 minutes away from claiming that elusive victory. When the #5 TS050 HYBRID ground to a halt in the pit straight, the scene was met with the same stupefaction all around the circuit, in the Toyota garage, the grandstands and the media centre. In the Porsche camp, nobody could believe their eyes when their eighteenth win suddenly became a reality.

The dignity of the Toyota team was exemplary. The team leaders were quick to announce their firm attention to come back and try again and the drivers soon regained their fighting spirit and pulled out all the stops in the second half of the World Endurance Championship season.

Having played a starring role at Le Mans, the Japanese team took centre stage again in their home round, the 6 Hours of Fuji. It was the sweetest of victories. In the #6, Kamui Kobayashi’s nerves of steel held out against Loïc Duval’s attack. Duval’s Audi had new tyres for the closing stages and was on Kobayashi’s heels down to the line, finishing just 1.5 seconds behind.

The superb performance meant Kobayashi and fellow crew-members Mike Conway and Stéphane Sarrazin were still in the running for the WEC driver’s title before the last race in Bahrain. Although the crew actually finished third in the championship, the team’s gold-star attitude was outstanding. Their strength of character and absolute resilience in the wake of their nightmare Le Mans was a credit to their sport. The forthcoming head-to-head with Porsche promises some thrilling action.

Photo: Runners-up at Le Mans 24 Hours 2016, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Stéphane Sarrazin took Toyota’s only win this season. And what a win!