Toyota's Sebastien Buemi 'couldn't accept' Le Mans heartbreak
Sebastien Buemi has admitted he "couldn't accept" the nature of Toyota's last-gasp Le Mans 24 Hours defeat in the aftermath of this year's race
Buemi and fellow 2014 World Endurance champion Anthony Davidson were watching in the Toyota garage as team-mate Kazuki Nakajima looked set to deliver the Japanese manufacturer its first victory in the French enduro.
A sudden loss of power on the penultimate lap of the race, traced to "a defect on the air line between the turbo and the intercooler" on the #5 TS050 HYBRID, then forced Nakajima to slow and briefly stop, handing Porsche victory.
"I was pissed off, angry, and couldn't accept it for two days," Buemi told Autosport.
"I don't know if you can call it destiny or whatever...why this thing held off for 23 hours and 55 minutes and not 24 hours I don't know.
Everyone should want Toyota to win Le Mans 2017
"I realised being angry is not going to bring you anything; it's not going to put you on the podium.
"I've been spending some time with family and it's great, it makes you realise it's not only about this race. You can move on to the next thing.
"I'll try to come back next year and win it - the day we do is going to be amazing."
Toyota was lauded by Porsche in the aftermath of the race, having accepted it was beaten by the Japanese marque heading into the final 15 minutes.
Buemi said the way Toyota bested Porsche, and its progress in general from last year's underwhelming campaign, was reason to be confident it would have another chance to end its Le Mans jinx.
How Toyota beat Porsche over 23h55m
"If you see where we were last year, four or five seconds off the pace, and see where we were this year it's amazing," he said.
"We started the new engine after Le Mans last year, and we got there with less budget than the others.
"We've come back stronger and we're not going to have to change the battery, chassis and the engine for 2017.
"We want to come back. If next year I find myself in the same situation I don't know how I'm going to survive the last lap."
The Swiss driver is dovetailing his Toyota World Endurance Championship commitments with a Formula E campaign with Renault e.dams.
He heads into this weekend's title-deciding London finale with a one-point lead over rival Lucas di Grassi and said it was good to have a chance to bounce back from Le Mans immediately.
"What happened last week is now in the past and we have to move on," Buemi added.
"Formula E is not going to be the same as Le Mans, but my objective is still to win the championship."
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