Toyota reclaims the 24 hours of Le Mans crown after a three-year wait

Toyota won the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Sunday after a late-race shift in track position helped the No. 7 crew turn a quiet run into a victory. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries were outside the lead fight for much of the day, but they struck when the safety car compressed the field with six hours left.

Once the race restarted, Kobayashi delivered a strong sequence of laps that moved the Toyota into the lead. From there, the team stayed in control and brought Toyota its sixth Le Mans win, and its first since a five-race streak ended in 2022.

Toyota holds firm after the restart

The No. 7 car had been fourth by Sunday morning, but the safety car gave Toyota the opening it needed. Conway later summed up the team’s early doubts and its patience through the race: “Even in the first couple of hours we thought it wasn’t looking good," Conway said before joining De Vries and Kobayashi for celebrations atop the car. “We just stuck in there."

Toyota also finished third with its No. 8 entry of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. That car had led on Saturday evening before losing ground overnight.

BMW and Cadillac fall short

BMW came closest to stopping Toyota. The car shared by Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns and Rene Rast finished second, leaving the German manufacturer still searching for its first Le Mans win since 1999.

Cadillac also stayed in contention into Sunday morning, but the No. 12 entry of Louis Deletraz, Will Stevens and Norman Nato finished fourth. The manufacturer’s other two cars ran into trouble during the night.

Ferrari, which had won the previous three Le Mans races, was never a major factor this time. Its best-placed car finished fifth.

Class winners and late disappointment

In the support categories, Inter Europol won LMP2 with Tom Dillmann, Jakub Smiechowski and Nick Yelloly. Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating took GT3 honours in a Corvette.

There was also disappointment for Doriane Pin, who had been leading the LMP2 class on Sunday morning with Julien Andlauer and Richard Verschoor. The former F1 Academy champion was on course for a notable result before a brake failure ended that challenge later in the day.

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