Toyota will not be crowned in the World Endurance Championship
Then in the running to win two world titles, Toyota saw its hopes dashed two hours before the end of the 8 Hours of Bahrain.
There is reason to be frustrated. Taking advantage of Porsche’s very bad start to the race, Toyota could hope to win both world crowns, against all expectations. But mechanical problems occurred on the #7, the best placed in the rankings.
Then, at a frantic pace, Kamui Kobayashi experienced a gearbox or transmission problem. The car was losing a considerable amount of time. While this breakdown was quickly resolved, it came back fairly quickly.
This time, it was Nyck de Vries behind the wheel. The Dutch driver was losing position after position. The first virtual safety car intervention was used by the mechanics to try to identify the issue. But they couldn’t fix it. Nyck de Vries continued to drop down the hierarchy until Toyota decided to bring the Hypercar back to its pit lane.
With this withdrawal, the Japanese brand could put an end to the drivers’ championship. There was still a slim chance with the constructors’ standings, but Porsche was in a much better position.
