Photo: Vision Sport Agency
Toyota Gazoo Racing is still investigating the cause of the power loss that cost the Japanese manufacturer victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the final lap.
The No. 5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Kazuki Nakajima slowed on track and stopped on the pit straight, while in the lead, with less than four minutes to go, handing victory to the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb.
It would have been Toyota’s first overall Le Mans triumph, in a race that saw neither of its LMP1 hybrid cars encounter any form of mechanical issues up until the closing moments with the No. 5 car.
While rumors of a potential turbo failure have surfaced, Toyota is insistent that a full investigation to the exact cause is still ongoing, and that nothing has been fully determined.
“We suffered a sudden loss of power,” a Toyota spokesman said. “We are still investigating the precise root cause for an issue which we have never experienced previously. A full update will be issued in due course.
“At this time we would like to express our deep appreciation for all the messages of support which we have received in the past days, from fans, colleagues and friends.
“We will return to Le Mans in 2017 stronger thanks to that support and encouragement.”
The engine issues, which forced both of the TS050 Hybrids out of last month’s WEC Six Hours of Spa, appear to be unrelated to whatever happened at Le Mans, as Toyota concluded the Spa failures had to deal with the compression factor at Eau Rouge.
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