Toyota wins a classic 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans

This was the race we dream about. The 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans delivered an absolutely insane finish, with only 10.913 seconds separating the winner from the runner-up. It stands as the closest finish in the history of the FIA World Endurance Championship, witnessed by a massive crowd of 350,105 fans. Toyota snatched their sixth win at La Sarthe by rolling the dice early, pulling their cars from 14th and 15th on the grid to hunt down the leaders.

While the #8 Toyota initially looked like the car to beat, a chaotic Sunday morning opened the door for the #7 crew of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries. After suffering an early puncture and a driveshaft sensor issue, the #7 Toyota fought back into a final four-way brawl against the #12 Cadillac and the #20 BMW. De Vries was brilliant, pulling off a beautiful, aggressive pass on Norman Nato at Mulsanne Corner to help seal the deal.

Kobayashi crossed the line first, marking Toyota’s 51st FIA WEC win in 102 starts. It was a massive result that vaults the brand to the top of both the Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ tables. BMW took a hard-fought second, their first overall podium here since 1999, while the #8 Toyota rounded out the rostrum. Cadillac’s #12 entry finished fourth, left to regret a drive-through penalty that might have cost them a maiden victory. For the Ferrari faithful, it was a quiet weekend, with their 499P entries never truly factoring into the fight for the win.