Motorsport News Magazine 21st June 2017 Back Issue

PORSCHE RESCUES LE MANS
This really should have been Toyota’s year. After scores of near-misses in the Le Mans 24 Hours since the 1980s, culminating in last season’s infamous race where the leading car of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima stopped with a turbocharger fault with just a few minutes remaining, 2017 should have marked its first triumph in the legendary sportscar race. But this was Le Mans. Anything could happen. And instead of ending the race in a blaze of glory Toyota was left wondering whether it really is cursed at La Sarthe after two of its cars retired from the race within minutes just before
mid-distance. That qualifying lap from Kobayashi meant Toyota had truly
re-established its position as the favourite to win. A 3m14.791s was a stunning time, beating Neel Jani’s time from last year by almost exactly five seconds and more significantly it was 2.1s inside his record from 2015.