The Japanese producer’s two driver crews pointed to a number of incidents and points as the explanation they didn’t reverse final 12 months’s defeat to Ferrari within the French enduro.
Jose Maria Lopez, who crossed the road within the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar he shared with Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries 14s behind the successful Ferrari, defined that two punctures and two engine points proved essential in its defeat.
“I don’t like ifs and buts, however we had the tempo to win,” he advised Autosport.
“Kamui had an engine downside after which I had one within the final stint, after which we had the 2 punctures [which resulted in unscheduled stops].”
Lopez described the Le Mans race during which he returned to the Hypercar class rather than the injured Mike Conway as “the toughest one I’ve ever skilled”.
“It wasn’t the smoothest race for us, for positive,” he added.
He insisted that the his spin on the Dunlop Chicane with an hour to go as he tried to shut down Nicklas Nielsen within the successful Ferrari 499P didn’t determine the race.
The time loss was roughly the identical quantity as he misplaced out on the finish, however he believes that he wouldn’t have caught Nielsen as a result of “the Ferrari was cruising on the finish”.
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa
Photograph by: Rainier Ehrhardt
Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, who took fifth within the sister #8 Toyota, believed that the defining second for them got here after the rain resumed and the automobile was nudged right into a spin at Mulsanne Nook by Alessandro Pier Guidi within the second of the manufacturing facility Ferraris with two hours to go.
“I suppose with out that spin after that little contact, we might have gained the race,” he advised Autosport.
“That was one which acquired away.
“We misplaced one thing like 40s and we have been a way forward of #7 on the time.”
Buemi additionally recommended {that a} gradual zone, a 80km/h short-term pace restrict below yellow flag situations, within the closing hours was additionally pivotal within the consequence of the race.
Hartley added that the spin “principally put us out of the battle for the win within the final couple of hours”.
“It feels just like the victory simply slipped away from us,” he mentioned.
Kobayashi bumped into engine issues on Sunday morning, which Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury defined was attributable to a sensor situation that the workforce managed to resolve.
The second downside with the powertrain got here within the closing hour as Lopez tried to catch the Ferrari was attributable to a communication error, the workforce mentioned.
One of many settings was within the mistaken place, which meant Lopez needed to be talked right down to right it as he was chasing Nielsen.