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june 19, 2017 - Toyota

Le Mans Agony for Toyota GAZOO Racing

Toyota GAZOO #racing endured a painful Le Mans 24 Hours in which two of its TS050 Hybrids did not reach the chequered flag while the remaining car finished ninth.

Hopes were high of a first Toyota win at Le Mans when the pole position-winning #7 TS050 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Stéphane Sarrazin led for the opening 10 hours but it retired at 1:15am following a clutch problem.
The #8 of Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima had also been in contention for the victory for almost eight hours until an issue on the front motor cost it almost two hours in the pits. It rejoined and finished ninth, setting the fastest lap late in the race.
An accident put the #9 of Nicolas Lapierre, Yuji Kunimoto and José María López out just minutes after the #7 stopped, when it was hit from behind by an LMP2 car, causing a puncture and damaging the hydraulics. That left the car unable to shift gear and it retired on track just a few hundred metres from the pits at 1:35am.

The race, round three of the 2017 FIA World #endurance Championship (WEC), was won by the #2 Porsche from the #38 and #13 ORECA LMP2 cars, following a technical issue for the #1 Porsche, which retired from an 11-lap lead.
It represented a bitterly disappointing end to a race which the team had begun with strong hopes of a first Toyota victory at Le Mans in 19 appearances since its debut in 1985.
Thursday had seen Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest-ever lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe, beating the average speed record that had stood for 32 years. The team also went into the race as drivers' and manufacturers' World Championship leaders following victories in the first two WEC races of the season.

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