Why Le Mans didn't decide Toyota's WEC title outcome in 2021

Toyota swept up the first brace of titles – drivers’ and manufacturers’ – at the start of a new era for the World Endurance Championship. It would be easy to say it waltzed to them as the only major manufacturer with a Le Mans Hypercar in a slim field. After all, it claimed 1-2 finishes in four rounds of the reduced six-event schedule. Yet for all its domination, the Japanese manufacturer could so easily have lost the biggest prize at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

No one outside Toyota Gazoo Racing knew during the French enduro quite how close the team was to missing out on a fourth straight victory. The world was aware that there were issues afflicting its pair of GR010 HYBRIDs, and that they were probably similar to the one that reared its head previous time out at Monza. TGR Europe technical director Pascal Vasselon’s talk of “creative solutions” to overcome fuel pressure problems straight after the centrepiece WEC round only hinted at the drama that unfolded in the final third of the French enduro.