24h Le Mans
Second Swiss driver to win the World Champion driver title after Marcel F
-TOYOTA-TS-040-HYBRID-SBA-1424A--BA-9902_hd.jpg)
Photo : Sebastien BASSANI (ACO)
I was in 2012, and with a bang, that the Swiss driver began in the discipline: as a factory driver he was a part of Toyota's return…And their very first race together was none other than the 24 Hours of Le Mans! Despite the enormous pressure and one retirement, he was immediately charmed by the atmosphere in La Sarthe, the camaraderie in endurance and the challenges of hybrid technology. Entered full-time in the World Championship the following year, he won his first victory at the 6 Hours of Bahrain for the close of the 2013 season, along with Anthony Davidson and Stéphane Sarrazin. 2014 was the season of his consecration. At the wheel of the Toyota TS040 Hybrid, the most powerful car in the group (1,000hp in thermal and electric modes combined), Sébastien Buemi won four victories with Davidson (Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps in a trio with Nicolas Lapierre, Fuji and Shanghai in a duo) and earned the driver world title with the Brit, with one round left to race.
The Swiss driver is the youngest title-winning driver in the also young existence of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). A title that could very well make of him the symbol of a new generation since the youthful nature of the group is one of the main phenomenons of the 2014 season. But that is another story…to learn about in another chapter of this retrospective! In the meantime, two goals are shaping up for 2015 in the short and mid-term for Buemi: victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the driver title in Formula E, the new FIA World Championship dedicated to 100% electric single-seaters, where he just won his first victory on December 13th at the third round in Punta del Este (Uruguay).
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SUNDAY JUNE 8 2014, TECHNICAL & ADMINISTRATIVE VERIFICATIONS. In three participations at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Sébastien Buemi has claimed a podium finish twice: second in 2013 and third in 2014.
