Since its establishment in 1923 to recent years, it is no question that most of the usual winners of the legendary 24 Hours of Lemans are cars from European brands. To put that into perspective, the top three manufacturers with the most victories are Porsche with 19 wins, Audi with 13, and Ferrari with nine. As such, Le Mans, for the longest time, has been known to be dominated by Europeans.
The 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans where Audi emerged as the winner
Recently however, Toyota Gazoo racing has been upping the ante when it comes to this particular racing event. Specifically, the Japanese marque is now in the sixth spot for most manufacturer wins with four victories so far. That means Toyota is now tied with Ford and Alfa Romeo.
Furthermore, Toyota is also the current Le Mans participant with an ongoing winning streak. This brand, after all, has been the overall race winner from 2018 to 2021. The latest win this year is of course thanks to the new GR010 Hybrid race car that was piloted by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing team celebrating their win at the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans
Heck, even the other GR010 unit fielded by Toyota Gazoo Racing finished second. The third spot is then secured by the French-made Alpine A480, which was manned by the France-based Signature team. The said car however, is four laps behind the GR010 race leader, which is a considerable gap.
For those who aren’t aware, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a grueling endurance race organized by Automobile Club de l'Ouest. It takes place at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France.
The said track is by no means an easy one. That’s because cars racing on it need to spend around 85 percent of the time in full throttle. Combined with the endurance nature of the race in question, this puts a toll on the participating car’s components.
Toyota Gazoo Racing's GR010 Hybrid hypercar can produce a combined output of 939 horsepower
To this end, the string of Toyota’s victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans just goes to show how serious the brand is when it comes to motorsport. And yes, many will also note that what the carmaker learned from Le Mans might also trickle down to production cars as well.
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