Reigning FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) team Toyota Gazoo Racing takes on the challenge of the 92nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend having secured five victories in the past six editions of the iconic race.
Toyota made its Le Mans debut in 1985, and has achieved five victories, 17 podiums and eight pole positions, completing more than 16,000 laps, the equivalent of more than five times around the circumference of the earth.
The team will be racing two cars joining a 23-strong Hypercar grid alongside Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Isotta Fraschini, Lamborghini, Peugeot and Porsche in the largest top-class field at Le Mans of the 21st century.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, winners at Imola this season, will drive the #7 GR010 HYBRID while Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, the reigning World Champions, compete in the #8 GR010 HYBRID.
Five of the team’s six drivers have already stood on top of the Le Mans podium. Buemi has four victories while Hartley has three. Conway, Kobayashi and Hirakawa are one-time winners, while De Vries makes his debut, having competed four times in LMP2. Kobayashi holds the fastest-ever lap of the 13.626km Circuit de la Sarthe, while Conway is the race lap record holder.
Kazuki Nakajima, Vice Chairman of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe and one of only ten drivers to win Le Mans three consecutive years, has been given the role of Grand Marshal for this year’s event by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, an honour which includes leading the field away on the formation lap for the race on Saturday in front of an expected crowd of 300,000.
Since the very first Le Mans 24 Hours 1923, the race has been a showcase for the latest automotive technologies and pioneering road-relevant innovations. Since returning to the race in 2012 Toyota has competed exclusively with a hybrid powertrain, emphasising a commitment to developing ever-better hybrid cars through endurance racing.
This weekend’s 2024 GR010 HYBRID features a 200kW hybrid motor on the front axle to deliver four-wheel drive, alongside a 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo engine, which runs on 100% renewable biofuel.
Last yearToyota Gazoo Racing previewed and introduced the hydrogen engine GR H2 Racing Concept. This year hydrogen is in the spotlight again via an exhibition at the Hydrogen Village, complimented by a Manufacturers Village display focusing on Toyota’s motorsport projects and philosophy.
“Everyone in the team – at Higashi-Fuji, Cologne, the wider Toyota family, and our partners – has been working flat-out for a year to be ready for Le Mans. We have strong competition, and we must be on top of our game to challenge at the front. We need all our team spirit, experience, and effort to challenge for another Le Mans win. It’s a special race with a unique atmosphere thanks to the fans from around the world who support us. From the scrutineering in the city until the podium, we feel their support and it drives us on. I can’t wait to be there again and be part of it,” said Kamui Kobayashi, Team Principal and driver of, car #7.