Toyota #7 victim of a bad joke by an LMP2 driver

What can determine a victory? For its 19th participation, Toyota was well on its way to finally realizing its dream of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as numbers 7 and 8 were holding the top two positions shortly after midnight. But then the latter encountered a problem with its hybrid system, which required significant repairs and relegated it to the back of the pack.

But the #7 was the victim of an incredible sequence of circumstances! Indeed, the race leader stops at their pit for a planned stop while the safety car is on the track. As the regulations require, they are stopped at the end of the straight to let the safety car pass.

It was then that an LMP2 driver, the Frenchman Vincent Capillaire, found nothing better to do than to approach the stopped Toyota and gesture to the driver, as illustrated by this video. Thinking he was simply making a joke and hitchhiking, this gesture was interpreted as a sign to return to the track by Kamui Kobayashi since the suit of the Algarve Pro Racing driver is orange and resembles that of a track marshal! Realizing the error of their driver, the team immediately orders him to stop again, which he does.

However, in the excitement of the race, the Japanese driver executes a poor starting procedure, and the clutch is not designed for multiple consecutive starts. As a result, the clutch overheats, and the driver can no longer shift gears. Consequently, he attempts to bring his damaged car back to the pit, but his hybrid battery does not have enough capacity for a full lap. Therefore, he is forced to retire in the dark night of Sarthe!

Enough to have even more regrets for the team… Those expressed by the driver on his Facebook profile are unlikely to be heard in Cologne and Toyota City…