TOYOTA GOES FOURTH
Why yet another uncontested Le Mans win still deserves respect
Damien Smith
MOTORSPORT
Six pages of news, insight and opinion from the world of motor racing
RACING LINES
Toyota’s new LMH car picked up from where its LMP1 racer left off
In the view of the uncharitable, Toyota has been shooting at an open goal at the Le Mans 24 Hours these past four years as it has notched up a string of consecutive victories after decades of falling short at the world’s greatest endurance motor race. There’s that nagging question: who did it beat, without big-beast opposition such as Audi or Porsche present at the Circuit de la Sarthe? The answer tends to be the gruelling race itself – and another Toyota. Thank goodness that a genuine, open rivalry has been allowed to ferment between the #7 and #8 crews. Without it, Le Mans would have been reduced to a red-and-white parade.
Again, the uncharitable say that’s what it is anyway, even if the Toyotas are free to race each other. But that’s unfair. It’s hardly Toyota’s fault that the others left the field of play, and in each of the past four years the Cologne-based Toyota Gazoo Racing team has still faced a daunting job to complete, with the added pressure that it was always expected to win. As the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team will tell you, that’s an uncomfortable scenario. Success at the highest level is never easy and always hard-earned.