11.07.2024Le Mans 2022: The summet of Toyota’s winning streak

From 2018 to 2022, Toyota was the dominant force at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Japanese automotive giant's five-year winning streak even spanned two different technical eras of the endurance classic.

First of all, Toyota's long-awaited debut triumph in 2018 and the two subsequent victories concluded the extensive chapter of the LMP1 class, which stretches back to the 1990s and, among other things, covered the early days of the World Endurance Championship launched in 2012.

From 2021, the era of hypercar regulations dawned, which is responsible for the current heyday of endurance racing. Toyota was involved in the creation of the cornerstones for the new generation of cars from the start and was able to secure the first two Le Mans victories of the hypercar era in 2021 and 2022.

The five-year dominance was a redeeming series of successes for Toyota after a decades-long dry spell at Le Mans. Since 1985, the Japanese had repeatedly made attacks on overall victory and often suffered bitter defeats in promising positions. This included, for example, the gearbox failure of the leading GT-One in the final phase in 1998. Equally unforgettable is the painful failure in the final minutes of the race in 2016, when Toyota had its first victory in sight, and the night in 2017, when all three cars were torn out of the race decision within a very short space of time.

The last Toyota victory to date in 2022, on the other hand, was free of disputes. The two hypercars, christened GR010, completed the endurance race without major problems and without too much pressure from the competition. Toyota's competitors were two hypercars privately used by US billionaire James Glickenhaus and a modified old LMP1 car from Alpine. The latter car was far from the top early on due to a number of incidents. The Glickenhaus team followed the two Toyotas in third and fourth place until the end of the race, but had no chance to attack.

After Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José Maria López had won in the Toyota with starting number seven the year before, the 2022 Le Mans victory went to the teammates in the car with the number eight, driven by Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. This was the fourth time that the Swiss Buemi had won. For Hartley it was the third success. Ryo Hirakawa had a perfect debut, following his Japanese compatriot Kazuki Nakajima within the team and immediately climbing to the highest podium.

The Spark model of the 2022 Le Mans winning car is made of resin and reflects the original as closely as possible. The car is delivered in a Toyota dealer box. Also included is a miniature model of the impressive winner's trophy that Toyota held up after the race for the fifth time in a row.

Toyota GR010 Hybrid #8 Winner 24h LeMans 2022 with trophy Toyota Gazoo 1:43, RRP €125.00, item-no.: TBMTY-LEMAN-22

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Toyota GR010 Hybrid #8 Gagnant 24h LeMans 2022 avec Tasse Toyota Gazoo 1:43 Spark

79,95 €