The remarkable fixes Toyota used to avert another Le Mans disaster

The 1-2 finish achieved by Toyota at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours was a result that will have surprised few, given its status as pre-event favourite. But the result was anything but straightforward, as worsening fuel pressure concerns required the team's drivers and engineers to pursue "creative fixes" on the fly. Here is the full story of how it reached the end without a lengthy pit visit

Gary Watkins Nov 3, 2021, 10:28 AM

Upd: Nov 3, 2021, 10:35 AM

Sebastien Buemi had just completed a three-lap stint on Sunday morning at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The fuel-pressure issue by now afflicting both Toyotas was getting ever worse and it looked as though extended pitstops for the two cars would be required, stops that would put them out of contention. Then, his engineer came over the radio and asked him to try something strange. It was the first of two off-the-wall ideas thought up in heat of the battle that enabled the Japanese manufacturer to take a fourth straight victory in the French enduro.

Toyota might have looked to have had a straightforward run to victory at Le Mans back in August, its pair of new GR010 HYBRIDS finishing four and two laps up on third-placed Alpine. But the reality was a long way from that. At 9:00am on Sunday, with seven hours left on the clock, it was far from clear inside the Toyota Gazoo Racing pit that its two cars would make it cleanly through to the chequered flag.

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Author Gary Watkins

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.