Motorsports can be cruel. Toyota was reminded of this when it lost the recent 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans to Porsche during the final lap of the world’s most famous endurance race. After 23 hours and 53 minutes of racing, Toyota had built a lead of about 80 seconds on the closest Porsche in Le Mans’ fastest category, the custom-built LMP1 class. But in the penultimate lap Porsche turned what looked like an an insurmountable lead into a sprint to the finish. The trouble for Toyota is that its racecar had nothing left to give. When it stopped on the final straightaway with just the final lap to go, Porsche was able to pass, earning its 18th Le Mans title.
What went wrong?
Wekk, Car #5 suffered a technical defect on a connector on the air line between the turbo charger and the intercooler, causing a loss of turbo charger control. The team attempted to modify the control settings to restore power and this was eventually achieved, allowing the car to complete the final lap. However, it was achieved too late to complete that lap within the required six minutes. Currently it is not clear exactly why this failure occurred as we have verified the process used to produce the part here in Cologne. Further analysis is required to determine the root cause. It is clear that the issue has no link whatsoever to the engine issues experienced at Spa earlier this season. Comprehensive investigations are underway at TMG to determine the precise reason for this issue with the aim of establishing countermeasures to avoid any repeat in the future.
