Since 1985, a total of 15 Japanese drivers have taken the start in 24 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of a Toyota: Kaoru Hoshino, Masami Kageyama, Ukyo Katayama, Kamui Kobayashi, Yoji Kunimoto, Hidetoshi Mitsusada, Naoki Nagasaka, Satoru Nakajima, Kazuki Nakajima, Hitoshi Ogawa, Masanori Sekiya, Aguri Suzuki, Keiichi Suzuki, Toshio Suzuki and Keiichi Tsuchiya.
 

PHOTO ABOVE: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 15-16 JUNE 2019. Toyota has helped make Kazuki Nakajima the most successful Japanese driver in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with two consecutive wins (2018 and 2019) and as many pole positions (2014 and 2018).

Masanori Sekiya, from Toyota to McLaren – Among these 15 drivers, Masanori Sekiya took the start in the 24 Hours as many as 11 times from 1985 to 1997, including eight with Toyota. In 1985, he shared with Satoru Nakajima and Kaoru Hoshino the first Toyota to cross the finish line at Le Mans (12th). Later, Sekiya made it into the top 5 twice with the Japanese marque, finishing second in 1992 and fourth in 1994. But his hour of glory came at the wheel of a McLaren F1 GTR the following year when he became the first Japanese driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, along with French driver Yannick Dalmas and the Finn JJ Lehto. In 1987, as he was still a driver with Toyota, Sekiya got married during the race, in the chapel for which one of the turns at the 24 Hours circuit is named. Unfortunately, the Toyota 86C he drove with Kaoru Hoshino and British driver Tiff Needell was forced to retire.
 

PHOTO (Copyright - ACO/ARCHIVES): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 20-20 JUNE 1992. Along with British driver Kenny Acheson and Frenchman Pierre-Henri Raphanel, Masanori Sekiya scored his best result at the 24 Hours as a Toyota driver at the wheel of this TS010 prototype.

Satoru and Kazuki Nakajima, from father to son – In the history of Japanese motorsport, the name Nakajima inspires the greatest respect. Born in 1953, the father, Satoru, is a pioneer in his country. In 1987, he became the first Japanese driver to participate in a full Formula 1 season and make it into the classification, a teammate of Ayrton Senna at the time. In 1985, his son Kazuki was born, destined to make his mark on the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2014, he became the first Japanese driver to score pole position at the race. In 2018, his win along with Fernando Alonso and Sébastien Buemi made him the third citizen of his country to win the 24 Hours (after Sekiya in 1995 and Seiji Ara in 2004) and the first to do so at the wheel of a Japanese car. This year, he became the first Japanese driver to win the race a second time and the first to win an FIA World Endurance Champion title. Kazuki's younger brother, Daisuke Nakajima (30 years old), competes in Japan in Super GT and Super Formula single-seaters.

1999: Ukyo Katayama, Keiichi Tsuchiya and Toshio Suzuki, an all-Japanese podium – In 1999, Toyota fielded three GT-Ones in the 67th running of the 24 Hours. After retirements for Brundle-Collard-Sospiri (flat tyre) and Boutsen-Kelleners-McNish (accident), the Japanese trio became the last Toyota driver line-up still in the race during the night. Sunday morning the car was in second position trailing the BMW of future winners Dalmas-Martini-Winkelhock, then in first position after an incident for teammate JJ Lehto. The #3 Toyota went on the attack, with Katayama clocking the fastest in-race lap, but the GT-One suffered a flat tyre less than a minute from the BMW. The car managed to return slowly to pit lane and restart again, and Ukyo Katayama, Keiichi Tsuchiya and Toshio Suzuki went on to claim the second step on the podium, still the best result for an-all Japanese driver line-up at the race.

PHOTO ABOVE (Copyright - ACO/ARCHIVES): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY 12 & SUNDAY 13 JUNE 1999. In 1998 as in 1999, Ukyo Katayama, Keiichi Tsuchiya and Toshio Suzuki shared the only Toyota GT6One to make it to the chequered flag.

Kamui Kobayashi, the record-holder – After five seasons in Formula 1 and a rookie appearance in the 24 Hours in 2013 with AF Corse Ferrari (in LMGTE Pro), the Japanese driver joined Toyota's endurance racing programme in 2016 in the wake of Alex Wurz's retirement from competition. The discipline has proven ideal for the development of Kobayashi's remarkable speed. In 2017, he became the fastest driver in the history of Le Mans with a pole position in 3:14.791 at an average 251.8 kph. Already a four-time winner in the FIA World Endurance Championship, he is well on his way to becoming the fourth Japanese driver to win the 24 Hours after coming so close to victory this year.
 

PHOTO ABOVE: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, QUALIFYING, THURSDAY 13 JUNE 2019. After the circuit record established in 2017, two years later Kamui Kobayashi clinched his second pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.