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Written by Joe Holding
Did it really happen? 48 hours on from the chequered flag falling at Le Mans, the cruel nature of Toyota"s mechanical failure on the penultimate lap at Circuit de La Sarthe still hasn"t sunk in.The #5 car piloted by Anthony Davidson, S bastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima had assumed the lead in the 17th hour of the race, and looked set to bring Toyota their first ever win having finished as runners-up at Le Mans on four previous occasions.It wasn"t to be. With just over 23 hours and 56 minutes of the race completed, disaster struck as Nakajima reported a loss of power on the approach to what would have been their final, celebratory lap.In a matter of moments their comfortable 30-second lead over the #2 Porsche vanished, as did their hopes of standing on the top step of the podium.The reaction of the team was unsurprisingly downbeat: "No-one would ever have believed a movie if it ended like this," said Davidson afterwards. "So to actually live through the experience is pretty hard to take."Buemi meanwhile said it was "hard to find the words" to describe his disappointment, while Nakajima vowed that they would "come back stronger and grab that trophy."Toyota President Akio Toyoda was more philosophical. He paid tribute to fellow LMP1 competitors Porsche and Audi, and also praised the "incredible sacrifices" made by his team."We do not compete without knowing the feeling of loss," he continued. "Having tasted the true bitterness of losing, we will return to the World Endurance Championship arena next year, and we will return to compete in the battle that is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The fight is not over!"While the bitterness of the defeat will take some time to move on from, they will at least have some positives to look back on. Porsche said Toyota had "Gained our respect forever" following their efforts over the course of the weekend, while Anthony Davidson arrived home to this touching note from his 5-year-old son yesterday evening.Having promised to return in 2017, Toyota has 12 months to prepare for their next bid for victory at Le Mans. The issue that cost them this year thought to be a turbo failure will be diagnosed and repaired, and with a bit of luck we"ll have another three-way battle to look forward to in the 85th edition of the raceIf it"s half as good as this year, we"re in for another treat.
Date written: 21 Jun 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 3942
Did it really happen? 48 hours on from the chequered flag falling at Le Mans, the cruel nature of Toyota"s mechanical failure on the penultimate lap at Circuit de La Sarthe still hasn"t sunk in.The #5 car piloted by Anthony Davidson, S bastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima had assumed the lead in the 17th hour of the race, and looked set to bring Toyota their first ever win having finished as runners-up at Le Mans on four previous occasions.It wasn"t to be. With just over 23 hours and 56 minutes of the race completed, disaster struck as Nakajima reported a loss of power on the approach to what would have been their final, celebratory lap.In a matter of moments their comfortable 30-second lead over the #2 Porsche vanished, as did their hopes of standing on the top step of the podium.The reaction of the team was unsurprisingly downbeat: "No-one would ever have believed a movie if it ended like this," said Davidson afterwards. "So to actually live through the experience is pretty hard to take."Buemi meanwhile said it was "hard to find the words" to describe his disappointment, while Nakajima vowed that they would "come back stronger and grab that trophy."Toyota President Akio Toyoda was more philosophical. He paid tribute to fellow LMP1 competitors Porsche and Audi, and also praised the "incredible sacrifices" made by his team."We do not compete without knowing the feeling of loss," he continued. "Having tasted the true bitterness of losing, we will return to the World Endurance Championship arena next year, and we will return to compete in the battle that is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The fight is not over!"While the bitterness of the defeat will take some time to move on from, they will at least have some positives to look back on. Porsche said Toyota had "Gained our respect forever" following their efforts over the course of the weekend, while Anthony Davidson arrived home to this touching note from his 5-year-old son yesterday evening.Having promised to return in 2017, Toyota has 12 months to prepare for their next bid for victory at Le Mans. The issue that cost them this year thought to be a turbo failure will be diagnosed and repaired, and with a bit of luck we"ll have another three-way battle to look forward to in the 85th edition of the raceIf it"s half as good as this year, we"re in for another treat.
Date written: 21 Jun 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 3942
