Toyota wins Le Mans 24-hour race to end Ferrari’s win streak in the endurance classic

Toyota won a close race-long fight with BMW and Cadillac to win the Le Mans 24-hour race for the sixth time yesterday in global endurance racing’s showpiece event.

The No. 7 Toyota of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries had been a distant fourth Sunday morning but Kobayashi seized his chance when the safety car bunched up the field with six hours remaining and surged into the lead after the restart.

The team controlled the pace after that for Toyota’s first win since a run of five in a row ended in 2022. Ferrari had won the last three Le Mans 24-hour races but didn’t come close this year, with its best car fifth.

The BMW team of Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns and Rene Rast was second, missing out on what would have been the German manufacturer’s first win since 1999.

The No. 8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa led through Saturday evening before dropping back in the night, and placed third.

Cadillac was in the fight for a first win through to yesterday morning.