With a massive lead over the rest of the field, Toyota Nos. 7 and 8 pulled into the pit lane to get cleaned up and sent out for their 1-2 finish. And after 24 hours of chaos and effort, that’s just how they finished. The Toyotas certainly shared a moment of sympathy with the LMP2 leader as No. 41 slowed to a stop on the Dunlop Curves on the final lap, losing out on the lead. But it was triumph — and a long time coming— for the No. 7 Toyota. Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Jose Maria Lopez are now victors at Le Mans.
It was almost a tragic end as a buildup of cars coming across the line nearly struck the flagman walking out to show the checkered flag to the finishers. The WRT and the Jota were battling for position, with a mere seven-tenths of a second separating the two.
It was also a stunning debut for Glickenhaus Racing, with both cars finishing the race and taking fourth and fifth overall for the 708 and 709, respectively.
At the end of the race, 15 cars had failed to take the checkered flag.
: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez: Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Brendon Hartley: Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere
: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez: Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Brendon Hartley: Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere
: Robin Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi: Sean Gelael, Stoffel Vandoorne, Tom Blomqvist: Julien Canal, Will Stevens, James Allen
: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Come Ledogar: Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, Nicky Catsburg: Kevin Estre, Neel Jani, Michael Christensen
: Francois Perrodo, Nicklaus Nielsen, Alessio Rovera: Ben Keating, Dylan Pereira, Felipe Fraga: Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi, Callum Ilott
: Takuma Aoki, Nigel Bailly, Matthieu Lahaye