Toyota fails handing Porsche shock win at LeMans

The winning No. 2 Porsche takes the checkered flag

The No. 5 Toyota Hybrid lost a race long battle with the No. 2 Porsche in the 84th 24 Hours of LeMans when the leading Toyota came to a stop in front of the pits with 3 minutes left to run.

The No. 5 Toyota has been listed as DNF. This is because it didn't complete the final lap fast enough. The rules state you must complete the final lap of the race in under six minutes to be classified.

Therefore, the No. 6 Toyota finished 2nd 3 laps down but still running.

For Porsche it was its 18th overall Le Mans victory at the famous 24-Hours of Le Mans. Drivers Romain Dumas (FR), Neel Jani (CH) and Marc Lieb (GER) brought home the innovative Porsche 919 Hybrid in first place.

At the start of the final hour of the race, the Toyota TS 050 No. 5 with Kazuki Nakajima at the wheel had twenty seconds lead over the Porsche 919 Hybrid # 2 of Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Mark Lieb. The last pit stop was controlled easily by both teams. Porsche has returned the No. 2 373rd lap, for refueling only.

The 374th lap, the leading No. 5 Toyota pitted for fuel but no change of tires.

The bombshell came as the Toyota TS 050 was preparing to start a final victory lap. But Kazuki Nakajima was slow, then stopped before the line! Neel Jani in the 919 Hybrid 2, drove the last lap and victory to Porsche at the wire.

"First of all thank you to all the team members; we did everything right," said Nakajima after the race.

"The car was great to drive. It was tough to have Porsche No. 2 only 30 seconds behind me towards the end but we had the pace and we managed it very well.
"It was only two laps missing and it’s a pity we didn’t get the trophy; the team deserved to win.

"When I was doing my last lap to the checkered flag, all the marshals and fans were really kind to me and that was very emotional.

"I want to say thank you for that. Let’s come back stronger and grab that trophy."

Stephane Sarrazin, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi, after leading the race early on, came through to finish second but behind the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid that inherited the win from the struggling No. 5 Toyota.

"I have mixed feelings," admitted Conway. "Second is OK but we are all gutted for car No. 5. They drove a great race and were controlling it.
"You could see how upset everyone was; I really feel for them."

"I am incredibly proud of our team effort, not just today but since Le Mans last year," added team president Toshio Sato.

"The way we have responded to the pain of our 2015 disappointment, by developing an all-new chassis and powertrain in a short timeframe, has been impressive and the performance of the TS050 Hybrid was strong.

"We worked as one team and took part in an amazing Le Mans 24 Hours. Congratulations to Porsche on its victory.

"I have no words to describe our emotions today. It is simply heartbreaking but we will return stronger and more determined to win."

In LMP2, victory for Alpine! Since the 10th hour of the race, the Alpine A460 Nissan Motor Gustavo Menezes, Nicolas Lapierre and Stephane Richelmi led. A great success for the French brand which launched its commercial return, and is involved in endurance for several seasons.

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Fifty years after its historic overall victory, Ford has returned to the top step of the podium in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, taking the third tier class GTE-Pro win with the No. 68 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT. Not an overall win by any stretch of the imagination, but still something to celebrate. It's the best Americans can do these days – a country made mediocre by socialism.

The team of Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Sebastien Bourdais took the Ford to the line after battling with Risi Competizione for most of the race.

Defending World Champions Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard were knocked out of contention in the 9th hour when the No. 1 LMP1 Porsche replaced its water pump after battling temperature issues.

The car finished 13th overall and fifth in class, benefiting by attrition from all three of the LMP1 privateer entries.

The No. 12 Rebellion Racing Rebellion R-One AER of Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld and Nelson Piquet Jr. claimed privateer honors, finishing 29th overall.

It came after battling an early race misfire, electronics issues, as well as two clutch changes over the course of the race.

Rebellion's No. 13 entry, which claimed overall podium finishes in the opening two WEC races, ran as high as 5th before stopping on track in the 14th hour with issues.

It was classified second, with the No. 4 ByKolles Racing CLM P1/01 AER the only LMP1 retirement after suffering a fire on Sunday morning.

Surprise winners celebrate

Drivers Porsche 919 Hybrid car number 2:
Romain Dumas (35, France):
(15 races: overall victory 2010, 3rd place overall 2007, 5th place overall 2015, class victory GTE 2013)
"For sure we feel sorry for Toyota. It was a great race. But of course if you get the chance to win Le Mans, you won’t say no thank you. It’s impossible to realize right now what just happened. This year, the lap times were a bit slower due to the regulation changes."

Neel Jani (32, Switzerland):
(7 races: qualifying record lap and 5th place overall 2015)
"I feel heartbroken for the Toyota drivers. I think every racing driver knows how this feels like. I still have no words to describe winning the 24 hours of Le Mans. This is really surreal. Still we drove a very good race with very few mistakes and pushed the car to the maximum. This win is really, really special."

Marc Lieb (35, Germany):
(10 races: 5th place overall 2015, class victories GTE 2013, GT2 2010, GT 2005)
"It was not at all an easy race with regards to traffic and slow zones. The last quadruple stint I did was really on the edge. Even the first three stints were quite difficult with overtaking in the traffic and taking risks. In the last one I then also had to save fuel, and especially the front tires that began to lose performance. I gave everything I had – and now I think I have to digest what all has happened today."

LM P1 Top-3

1 – Team Porsche (Porsche 919 Hybrid 2) Romain Dumas – Marc Lieb – Neel Jani
2 – Toyota Gazoo Racing (Toyota TS050 Hybrid 6) Mike Conway – Kamui Kobayashi – Stephane Sarrazin
3 – R 18 Audi Team Joest (Audi R 18 Team Joest no. 8) Lucas Di Grassi – Loic Duval – Olivier Jarvis

LM P2 Top 3

1 – Signatech Alpine (Alpine A460-Nissan # 36) Gustavo Menezes – Nicolas Lapierre – Stéphane Richelmi
2 – G-Drive Racing (Oreca 05-Nissan # 26) Roman Rusinov – Will Stevens – Rene Rast
3 – SMP Racing (BR Engineering BR01-Nissan # 37) Vitaly Petrov – Viktor Shaitar – Kirill Ladygin

LM GTE Pro Top 3

1 – Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA (Ford GT # 68) Joey Hand – Dirk Muller – Sebastien Bourdais
2 – Risi Competizione (Ferrari 488 GTE 82) Giancarlo Fisichella – Toni Vilander – Matteo Malucelli
3 – Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA (Ford GT # 69) Ryan Briscoe – Richard Westbrook – Scott Dixon

LM GTE Am Top 3

1 – Scuderia Corsa (Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 No. 62) Bill Sweedler – Townsend Bell – Jeff Segal
2 РAF Corse (Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 # 83) Fran̤ois Perrodo РEmmanuel Collard РRui
3 – Aguas Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing (Porsche 911 RSR No. 88) Khaled Al Qubaisi – Patrick Long – David

A total of 263,500 spectators came to watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans, third round in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The Automobile Club de l'Ouest was delighted to have attracted as large a crowd as last year despite last-minute changes to logistics due to the inclement weather.

Hour 24 Standings