24h Le Mans
Two of the three TS050 Hybrids fielded by Toyota were forced out of the 24 Hours of Le Mans before the race reached the halfway stage. Bad luck has struck the Japanese team once again.
Learning the lessons of previous editions, and particularly the terrible disappointment of last year’s climax, Toyota fielded three cars in the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans. In vain. However, before the halfway stage in the race had been reached, the #9 and #7 had been forced to retire. The #8 is still out on the track but is more than 90 minutes down on the leading #1 Porsche.
The Japanese outfit was decimated within a three-hour time frame. At 22:57, the #8 was held up due to trouble with the hybrid system. Then, at 00:56, the #7 stopped on the track with a technical problem. Finally, at 01:29, the #9 of Nicolas Lapierre was pushed off the tarmac by another car entering the Dunlop chicane. The damage to the rear end of the hybrid prototype prevented the French driver from returning to the pits.
As a result of this drama, Toyota’s slim chances of featuring high up the standings now lie solely with the #8 crew of Buemi/Davidson/Nakajima.
