Ewan Gale
Sunday, August 22, 2021 3:02 PM – Updated: 3:48 PM
Toyota’s # 7 squad finally broke their curse at the Circuit de la Sarthe by claiming victory at the 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours.
The car driven by Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi finally rose to the top after years of heartbreak from mechanical failures and flat tires.
Article continues under video
Not even suspected transmission problems or two separate rains could stop the attack this year as the # 7 eventually crossed the finish line first.
Sebastian Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley’s # 8 sister car recovered from a disastrous first lap – where it was hit at the Dunlop chicane and then stopped on the Mulsanne Straight and at Arnage – to finish second, two laps behind Toyota made a late pit stop and managed a formation finish.
Alpine followed in third place, Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere finished four laps behind on # 7 after holding the Toyotas honestly before turning into the gravel during the night.
Glickenhaus impressed with its fuel economy on both cars on debut to complete a hypercar top five lockout.
Toyota’s victory, the fourth in a row, was the first overall victory at Le Mans in the hypercar era.
LMP2
Team WRT’s number 41 car was gripped by a dramatic feeling on the final lap when the entry of Robert Kubica, Louis Deletraz and Yifei Ye from the lead with the Chinese at the wheel came to a standstill.
The # 31 sister car of Ferdinand Habsburg, Robin Frijns and Charles Milesi inherited victory in the team’s debut at Le Mans.
The # 28 Jota, which once led the race in the early stages, finished second ahead of Tom Blomqvist, Stoffel Vandoorne and Sean Gelael, while the # 65 Panis Racing of Will Stevens, Julien Canal and James Allen finished third.
The LMP2 category was most dramatic in the 24 hours, with several leaders struggling in the first half of the race.
Kevin and Jan Magnussen’s race was effectively ruined by the # 26 G-Drive machine, the same car that pulled Richard Mille’s all-female number 1 out of the race.
The popular United Autosports team had three starters in the race, but when the # 32 was eliminated after contact with the number 23 sister car – which took that car’s chances of a podium – and the # 22 had several problems over the night, WRT never looked back.
GTEPro
Ferrari emerged victorious from the GTEPro category in which Corvette Racing presented a surprise challenge.
The # 51 Ferrari of Come Ledogar, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi kept the # 63 of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg at bay in the last few hours.
Porsche fought its way back after a difficult week and took the # 92 of Kevin Estre, Neel Jani and Michael Christensen – a car that had been converted twice before the race due to various incidents – on the podium in third place.
The two private Porsches retired, Weathertech car # 79 crashed during the night and HubAuto car # 72, which was in pole position, suffered from a mechanical problem.
GTEam
The # 83 Ferrari of Francois Perrodo, Niklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera was awarded in the GTEAm class to ensure a GTE sweep for the Italian manufacturer.
Operation AF Corsica barely made a mistake in bringing home the # 33 TF Racing Aston Martin of Ben Keating, Dylan Pereira and Felipe Fraga, who had led most of the early race before a puncture prevented its progress.
Ferrari F1 reserve driver Callum Ilott joined Matteo Cressoni and Rino Mastronardi in the # 80 Iron Lynx race, which finished on the final podium.
The special contestant for the race this year – awarded to innovative contestants like the Nissan Deltawing in previous races – was the SRT41 Association.
The number 84 car was a modified iteration of an LMP2 chassis to allow paraplegic drivers Takuma Aoki and Nigel Bailly to compete alongside Matthieu Lahaye. The team finished 32nd overall out of 61 starters.
The post 24 Hours of Le Mans: Toyota # 7 breaks the curse with a sovereign victory when Kubica has dramatic consequences on the final lap first appeared on monter-une-startup.
