Le Mans – The No. 7 Toyota betrayed by a sensor

La Toyota n ° 7 of Kobayashi-Lopez-Conway remained in the lead for a good part of the race, but a puncture at the start of the final hour ruined the TS050 Hybrid's hopes of victory in favor of Nakajima's sister car.Buemi-Alonso.

The puncture required two pit stops as the mechanics changed the wrong tire on the Toyota. A sensor problem misled the team.

“We wanted to save a set of tires for last. I only changed one wheel, but I still had a flat tire when I got out, explained José Maria Lopez. I couldn't exceed 100km/h and the lap is quite long on a 13km circuit. Our hopes of victory were gone at that moment. »

The No. 7 Toyota would have deserved the victory without its bad luck after having already lost to its sister car during the previous edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Discover the analysis of the 87th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2221 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.